Isosceles
by Lady Silvamord
Summary: Three genii. Three corners of one triangle. A collection of NejiSakuShika works. Latest entry: twenty-five drabbles, regarding our favorite couple...
1. Fifty Themes

**Note: **NejiSakuShika is just too delicious to leave alone. Hence, a collection of random works involving our three favorite genii. :) More or less, these won't be really tied together in terms of plotline, developments, etc. Also, spoilers for post-timeskip.

Rated PG-13 for the usual stuff. Slight suggestive content, language, and mention of a threesome, etc, but nothing explicit.

This one is an adapted-fifty themes set. Yay.

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**Comfort**

Each drop of rain washes a little more blood away from Sakura's hair, face, and hands; it isn't soon before her own tears are mingling with the rain, but then she feels her cheek pressed against the rough material of Shikamaru's vest as he mumbles soft reassurances under his breath, and Neji is holding them both close as well, her head nestled against his neck. They hold each other like that for a little while, until Sakura's breathing regulates, and the rain comes to a slow stop.

**Kiss**

A completely plastered Sakura plants a messy kiss on Shikamaru's cheek, and the tactician looks up at Hyuuga Neji, looking slightly bemused.

Neji shrugs almost imperceptibly, and leans down to brush the barest of kisses on the top of Shikamaru's head. In response to his friend's thunderstruck look; he nods toward the grinning Sakura. "She's drunk, and she just passed the jounin exams. I think that we should honor her wishes—at least for tonight."

Shikamaru shakes his head. "I don't think you're quite sober either, if you're talking like that."

Neji gives Shikamaru a slightly lopsided smile.

The other jounin sighs, and makes a great show of pressing an over exaggerated kiss to Neji's hand. "Whatever you say, Hyuuga-sama. If we're lucky, none of us will remember this tomorrow, anyway."

Neji smirks a little when Shikamaru's back is turned. And _who _said that he couldn't fake drunk to save his life?

**Soft**

Sakura really, _really _dislikes it that both Neji and Shikamaru have better hair than she does. Neji's is…_immaculate _and _godlike_…and Shikamaru's is extremely thick and black and fun to play with. Whereas _hers, _aside from its color, is just plain average.

(She doesn't know that both Shikamaru and Neji envy her hair its softness. They have both purchased the brand of shampoo and conditioner she uses, regardless of its pink sparkly bottle. If they have their way, Sakura will never, _ever _know this.)

**Pain**

Neji and Shikamaru have both been under her care for the most horrific of injuries, and yet, they both turn into semi-comatose whimpering little _pansies _when they have headaches.

Sakura mocks them because of this, of course, even though she does heal them, eventually. Once, she asks them about this, after coming back home from the hospital to find them lying on the sofa of her apartment, several bottles of aspirin scattered around them.

Unsurprisingly, Neji answers this question after only a moment of thought. He taps his forehead. "Shikamaru and I are designed differently from – say, Naruto. Headaches affect a greater number of pain sensors in our brains than it would for a _normal _human being."

"Well said, Hyuuga," Shikamaru mutters, from under his pillow. "Hey, Sakura—don't glare at us like that—"

They both earn a swat to the head for their troubles.

**Potatoes**

Sakura loves potatoes. Neji is indifferent to them, but even the thought of potatoes is enough to make Shikamaru shudder.

He eats Sakura's potato salad, anyway, just because it's _her _that's cooking it.

Well, that, and the fact that she'd probably punch him through a few walls if he refused it, hurting her feelings in the process. Shikamaru thinks that it is all very troublesome.

**Rain**

Rainy season in Konoha is depressing. Neji, Sakura, and Shikamaru spend it inside, doing intellectual things like shogi and Go, and sometimes, random discussions about ethics and assorted clever topics.

Of course, they also spend some time doing not-so-intelligent things as well, like debating hair care products – or debating why the hell Neji can't loosen up and have some fun sometimes.

Neji takes offense at this, and usually takes the opportunity to remind both Shikamaru and Sakura that he can too have fun.

Neji, Shikamaru, and Sakura all really love rainy days.

**Chocolate**

One of Neji's many secrets is that he loves chocolate. So much so Shikamaru secretly refers to him as the Chocolate Monster.

On Valentine's Day, after an all-night shift and falling asleep over his desk, Neji wakes up to see his comrades leering at him. Genma shoves a package at him, grinning around his senbon. "I believe our little Neji has a secret admirer."

The package is wrapped in pale shimmery pink-and-red paper with a green border. On top of it is a card with a _huge _smiling heart on the front.

There is also a drawing, added on in blue pen, of what looks like a tiny version of Neji hugging a chocolate bar. The picture is circled in red pen, and captioned _The Chocolate Monster Strikes Again! _

Neji flops back down on his desk, ignoring the giggling, hair-ruffling, and general obnoxiousness that his workmates are displaying.

"Get out," he orders them in a perfect Hyuuga Deadpan.

They leave, still chuckling. Genma hesitates, though, and reaches toward the package…

Three offices down and a few minutes later, Mitarashi Anko hears a loud bang.

"Get the hell away from my chocolate!"

She shakes her head, and returns to her paperwork. Newbies.

**Happiness**

Neji, like all Hyuugas, does not like admitting to being happy. As a matter of fact, he is secretly convinced that there is a _law _about not admitting to being happy somewhere in his clan's history.

But sometimes, when Sakura is curled up against his chest, her breathing deep and even, and Shikamaru is on the other side of him, his long fingers tangled in Neji's hair as he mumbles complex mathematical problems in his sleep, he feels his resolve weaken slightly.

Times like this, Neji comes pretty damn close to admitting that he is happy. More than happy, as a matter of fact. So he bites his tongue (metaphorically), buries his face back into his pillow, and falls into a peaceful sleep.

**Telephone**

Neji, Sakura, and Shikamaru have very interesting three-way conversations. Genma and Raidou like to tap them, just for fun, and they have the hardest times stifling their giggles as they listen in.

**Ears**

There are a total of four people in Konoha who know that Neji is self-conscious about his ears. He is convinced that they are abnormally large. That is the _real _reason why he wears his hair so long – so that they shield his ears from being viewed by outsiders.

Sakura and Shikamaru, however, will have none of it. They claim that he has the most adorable _little _ears in the world, all the while prodding the aforementioned body part. Neji bears this indignity with a stoic expression, but the corners of his mouth quirk up the tiniest bit, and he admits to feeling a little mollified. Just a little.

**Name**

Shikamaru talks in his sleep. He once calls Sakura extremely troublesome and Neji a pretty boy diva while amidst a particularly hostile dream.

He wakes up on the couch, with the bedroom door firmly locked.

**Sensual**

Sakura had previously thought that Shikamaru was too lazy and Neji too asexual for them both to be any fun in bed.

She soon discovers that she couldn't have been more wrong.

**Death**

Shikamaru accepts death, but he secretly lives in fear that someday, Neji or Sakura might die without him, and he doesn't think he can take that.

**Sex**

Upon learning of their relationship, a highly pleased-looking Jiraiya sauntered up to them and proceeded to point out all of his Icha Icha novels that included threesomes. He gave them a commentary, too.

Neji, Sakura, and Shikamaru sit in bed that night, sneaking each other surreptitious looks.

"Hey, Sakura—you're a medic-nin, so…is that thing with the blue silk stuff even possible?"

"Don't ask me. Neji's the one with the Byakugan."

Both of their heads swivel toward the Hyuuga prodigy.

Neji smirks slightly. "Why don't we figure it out ourselves?"

**Touch**

Shikamaru and Neji are both ticklish – a fact that Sakura frequently takes advantage of, whenever she wants someone else to cook dinner for her.

**Weakness**

Sometimes, when they train, Sakura takes delight in punching the ground so hard that even the almighty Hyuuga-ness wobbles in his defensive stance, and Shikamaru has to drop to his knees and quickly form a new strategy to corner her with his technique.

("And you both thought I was weak, once," she says triumphantly, as she bandages their wounds, later.)

**Speed**

Physically, Sakura is still the slowest of the three, if even only by a small margin. As incentive to train harder, she manages to wrangle a kiss out of Neji and Shikamaru every time she keeps pace with or passes them.

Within two weeks, Sakura is faster than both of them.

**Life**

Kakashi lowers his book slowly, fixing his gaze on Neji and Shikamaru, who both unconsciously stand up straighter and try and look very, very worthy of the Copy Ninja's only female student.

Kakashi regards both of them slowly. Then he leans forward, and deliberately pokes Neji in the chest. "You're too old for her."

Neji can't help it – he splutters in momentary disbelief. Shikamaru takes it upon himself to defend the Hyuuga prodigy. "He _is _only a year and a half older than Sakura," he points out mildly, and then quails when Kakashi turns toward him.

"And _you_," Kakashi says, looking a little bit distasteful beneath the mask. "Are too lazy. Brilliant, but lazy."

Neji and Shikamaru stare in what can be most accurately described as openmouthed disbelief.

In a few moments, Sakura appears beside them in a swirl of cherry blossoms, holding a few grocery bags, which Neji and Shikamaru hasten to take from her. Unaware to the aura of general tension, she gives all three men a sweet smile. "Making friends?"

Kakashi turns toward her, before Neji and Shikamaru can wibble in fear. He smiles at the pink-haired medic-nin beneath his mask, his eyes going up into their crescent-moon smiley expression. "Oh yes. We're all going to be like a big, happy family."

"Indeed," Neji echoes weakly. Shikamaru can only nod.

_This is going to be troublesome, indeed. _

**Jealousy**

The first time Naruto and Sasuke see Shikamaru and Neji arm-in-arm with Sakura, they both look as if they've just had heart attacks from the sheer shock.

Sasuke recovers first, and sends Neji a poisonous glare. The Hyuuga prodigy is almost certain that the Uchiha would have gone to Level Two and tried to kill him if Naruto hadn't been collapsed into his arms.

Neji smirks slightly, as they pass Sasuke. _Too bad, Uchiha. You had your chance. _

**Devotion**

Sometimes it seems that everybody in Konoha—_especially _Ino, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi—disapproves of Neji and Shikamaru having a relationship with Sakura.

"I find it amusing that everybody was praising us to the skies before we started seeing you," Neji says dryly.

"—All that stuff about us being two of Konoha's most capable shinobi, maybe even some of the greatest stars of our generation—" Shikamaru cuts in.

"—It was all lies," finishes Neji. "Wasn't it?"

Sakura giggles, leaning back in the armchair. "It's really not that bad."

"Oh yeah?" Shikamaru retorts. "Ino gives me this fish-eyed look all the time, and when I was in the flower shop today, she gave me a lecture about treating you right."

"Which was exactly what your former teammate tried to speak to me about this afternoon," Neji adds.

Sakura looks up from her magazine and narrows her eyes. "_Tried _to?"

Neji sighs. "His shift ran out before I lost my temper. Besides, I figured that the Uchiha didn't need any more scars."

"Which is very good of you," Sakura replies evenly, and she smiles suddenly, looking at Shikamaru, who is slumped over the armchair, and Neji, who is regarding her with his white eyes open wide. "You know, it's not really as bad as you're making it out to sound."

Both men snort in unison.

Sakura gets up, and flops down between them on the sofa. She stretches her arms around both of their shoulders, tugging them in closer. "They're just a little bit overprotective, that's all," she says soothingly. "Give them a chance to get used to the idea."

Shikamaru 'hmphs' softly to himself. "So we're just victims of your devoted protectors?"

Sakura considers this. "Yes."

"Lucky, lucky us," Neji mutters.

Sakura laughs, and gives each of them a kiss on the cheek. "Indeed."

**Forever**

"You know," Shikamaru asks once, in a rare serious mood, "do you think this is going to last forever?"

Neji is silent, but his hands tighten around Shika's and in Sakura's.

Sakura closes her eyes. "Yes."

And when she says it like that, no matter what their common sense says, both of them choose to believe her.

**Sickness**

Initially, both Neji and Shikamaru found it almost laughable that even medic-nins could get sick. In the face of their laughter, a feverish and testy Sakura threw assorted sharp pointy objects at them, all gathered from the bedside table.

So, both of them learned how to tend to sicknesses. Not by learning how to use their chakra for medical purposes, but by standing in the kitchen trying to fix chicken soup without making something explode, and things of that sort.

By the end of the day, Sakura always felt a little bit better and Neji and Shikamaru always felt like they were ready to collapse. But then, they would all lie, wearily tangled together, in bed, and that felt nice.

**Home**

The first time Shikamaru and Sakura visit the Hyuuga compound, Shika looks around the place, before turning back to Neji. "So, _this _is the place that we're going to rule?"

Neji chokes on his water. Sakura pats him on the back, and he secretly thinks that his ancient clan will crumble after only a week of having them as the heads of the family.

**Confusion**

Once Ino asks Sakura which one of them she plans to marry—"Honestly, Sakura, they're both geniuses and they both love you; you can't go wrong either way…"

Neither Neji nor Shikamaru knows why Sakura won't meet their eyes for the rest of the night.

**Fear**

Ever since that incident with Kidomaru, Neji has been afraid of spiders. He hides it well, but sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night, shivering and gasping for breath.

To their credit, Shikamaru and Sakura try to understand, even though will never be able to grasp the depths of the horrors that he experiences in his nightmares. But Shikamaru holds his hand, nevertheless, and Sakura slides out of bed and checks the room, the bed, and the walls for spiders or spiderwebs, and they both hold him gently as he falls back asleep.

**Bonds**

"Genii need to stick together," is Sakura's excuse for the first few times they always manage to end up at the same bars, restaurants, and just in the general vicinity of one another.

After a few months, however, she stops making excuses.

**Market**

Food shopping is always hard and somewhat stressful for them, but the rest of Konoha's shoppers find it an amusing sight to see the pink-haired kunoichi ordering two of the city's most decorated shinobi around, both men holding baskets and looking rather meek.

**Technology**

Sakura finds it exasperating that Neji and Shikamaru always insist upon using her favorite shampoo and conditioner—with the thickness of Shikamaru's hair and the length of Neji's, it always runs out sooner than it's supposed to.

When she confronts them about it, they both stare at her blankly for a few moments.

"I find the hair-softening and frizz reducing technology to be rather pleasing," Shikamaru deadpans at last.

**Gift**

Ino _assumes _that because Sakura has two geniuses shopping for her at Christmas, she will get the most wonderful presents ever.

Sakura decides not to tell her that, no matter how smart Neji and Shikamaru are, when let loose in a perfume shop, they're just as bad as Naruto and Kiba.

**Smile**

In the few months that he's known Shikamaru and Sakura, Neji has come dangerously close to smiling. In _public. _In _general. _It disturbs him.

His first real smile with his teammates was when he saw Tenten and Lee playing with a couple of stray kittens on the street after a mission, all dusty and grimy, but with huge smiles on their faces as they hugged and cooed over the kittens.

Tenten had told him, later, that if he didn't smile over the sight of adorable kittens and happy teammates, then he really did have no heart. Or sense of humor. Anything.

What really puzzles Neji, though, is that Shikamaru and Sakura don't have to be happy or playing with cute kittens to elicit a smile out of him. He wants to smile in the middle of Sakura's rants against stubborn patients—often including himself. He wants to smile when Shikamaru calls various things troublesome, and when he falls asleep over his desk, leaving ink prints on his cheek.

Sakura and Shikamaru are dangerously close to breaking him down.

The strange thing?

Neji doesn't think he minds.

**Innocence**

When Neji's first genin team asks him why he lives with two other people when he could be residing in the expansive Hyuuga compound, he closes his eyes for a moment.

The little kunoichi in his team shoves her counterpart—a black-haired mini-version of genin Naruto—and points out that maybe Neji-sensei just wants to live with his _friends, duh. _

"Exactly, Ayame," he tells them, and nothing more is said about the subject.

**Completion**

No matter how sizeable their individual skills are, they only feel really _complete _when they are with one another.

**Clouds**

Neji had only ever noticed clouds in the context of birds, and Sakura had never paid them much attention at all.

Under the influence of Shikamaru, however, they end up on the roof of the ANBU headquarters, lying in a circle and guessing cloud shapes.

**Sky**

Ever since their genin days, both Shikamaru and Sakura always noticed the way Neji's pale eyes always followed birds on their paths against the skies. They didn't understand, before, and thought it slightly odd yet touching.

Now, they both think it's slightly adorable, and still touching.

**Heaven **

Neji doesn't quite cry when their pet bird dies, but he pales and his throat constricts and his eyes burn, and Shikamaru puts a comforting arm around him, as Sakura kisses the top of his head and tells him that all birds go to heaven.

**Sun**

Sakura finds sunsets extremely romantic, but—as sappy and disgusting as it sounds—between them, Neji and Shikamaru can make anything romantic.

**Moon**

Neji dislikes nighttime, because his Byakugan is at a slight—very slight—disadvantage at that time. As a result, they don't stay out past ten, because Neji is secretly afraid that someone else will discover his blind spot, jump them, and that they will be taken by surprise and not be able to beat the intruder like they would be normally.

Neji's paranoia is a well-known fact, and that is why they choose to simply stargaze, most nights.

**Waves**

One mission to the Wave Country, it is discovered that Shikamaru loves seashell hunting. Sakura thinks that watching him kneel in the damp sand looking for shells in the dark is both very cute and mildly sad, so Neji activates his Byakugan and walks around by Shikamaru's side, pointing out where all the best shells lie.

**Hair**

Neji is quite protective of his hair, unlike Shikamaru, who is content with dragging a comb through it once a day.

However, Shikamaru and Sakura are both quite fond of playing with his hair, since it's the longest and most pliable of all of theirs.

As a result, Neji spends at least one evening a week sporting various hairstyles, the most frequent being a French braid.

**Supernova**

"Hi," Sakura says, looking a little flustered, and Neji and Shikamaru look up from their dumplings. "Mind if I join you?"

-

This. Pairing. Is. Hot.

I'm taking requests, by the way. Knock me out. XD

Reviews appreciated!


	2. Twenty Truths

**Note: **Thank you _so much _to everybody who reviewed! Sorry for the long wait between updates - high school eats my life.

This chapter is written in the style of the LJ community 20truths entries. It's self explanatory - 20 truths about the relationship of and between Hyuuga Neji, Haruno Sakura, and Nara Shikamaru.

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_one_: None of them remember how they really became friends (somewhere between repeated missions together, comparative intellects, similar favorite foods, a mutual dislike of grapes and a mutual fondness of poker, claims Shikamaru), but he and Sakura will do anything for Neji.

_two_: Neji is aware of this, but he doesn't take advantage of it. The first time he discovers it is when they break into the Hokage's Tower at midnight to tamper with her mission records, in an attempt to give him a "well-deserved break" and prevent him from "working himself to the point of collapse."

That is what they _say, _of course, but Neji soon finds out that they only really do it so that they can show up at random times and whisk him away to perform some inane activity.

_three_: Neji is almost not surprised when he figures this out. He _is_, however, surprised when he realizes that he _likes _performing inane activities with Shikamaru and Sakura.

_four_: He draws the line when Sakura tries to drag them both to see the midnight premiere of _ANBU Romance_, though, and encourages Shikamaru to do the same.

_five_: Once, Neji invites them both to train with him, alone. Sakura accepts the invitation happily. She soon finds that training with Neji and Shikamaru seems to consist solely of avoiding Shikamaru's shadow binding technique while trying to avoid Neji's attacks.

She can only keep that up for a little while, though, and after that events take a turn toward "Shikamaru, hold Sakura while I attack her tenketsu relentlessly and demoralize her with my sarcastic comments."

(Neji doesn't anticipate the part when Sakura fights back and frees one arm from Shikamaru's technique, so that she hits him in the face, and he falls into Shikamaru, and they all collapse into one sweaty mess on the floor.)

Shikamaru complains about the bruises left by Sakura's punches and Neji's sharp elbows, Sakura complains about the dark marks all over her arms, collarbone, and ribs, and Neji maintains a stoic silence, although he thinks that his nose might be fractured.

_six_: Sakura heals the marks all over Shikamaru's chest, and manages not to blush as she does so. She heals Neji's nose, which is fractured in two places, and manages not to laugh and tell him _that _was what he deserved for baiting her like that.

She is highly displeased to discover that she can't heal herself, though. When Neji tells her that his techniques are specifically designed so that the tenketsu will open up again on their own, after a suitable amount of time, Sakura is so close to succumbing to Inner Sakura's advice—that she beat the shit out of both of them while they're vulnerable—that it is not funny.

_seven_: Shikamaru comments that she'll sulk all day, now, and Neji nods in agreement. Right before the Hyuuga prodigy opens his mouth to make a comment about sore losers, Sakura mutters, more to herself than anybody else, that she'll only feel better if she eats some ice cream, and _soon. _

_eight_: They find themselves at the ice cream parlor, after that. Neji holds a strawberry-flavored ice cream cone with a puzzled look on his face, as if he's not quite sure what to do with it. Sakura sips her mango smoothie, while offering advice to Shikamaru, who is debating whether he should go for the new coffee-flavored one, or stick with his tried and true—cookies and cream.

_nine_: Konohamaru gets a picture of this scene, quite by accident. He treasures it; because it isn't every day that one gets a picture of three _really cool _shinobi at the ice cream parlor. Later—when Sakura decides to define this as their very first date—she gets Neji to steal it from Konohamaru's picture album and then frames and hangs it up in her front hall.

_ten_: Tsunade-sama is fond of assigning them missions together. She claims it is because they're the three smartest people of their generation. Sakura suspects otherwise, but she doesn't complain when they are given a three-week mission away from Konoha.

This mission is mainly recon. They stay at an old hotel with a relatively small room and one bed. Shikamaru takes one look at the room and proclaims that his life is troublesome. Sakura crosses over and pokes the bed tentatively, and then begins to check for cockroaches before they go to sleep.

Neji has to sleep in the middle. He doesn't get much rest that night. He spends most of it with his eyes closed, trying to tell himself that he doesn't enjoy having Sakura's small figure curled up at his side, one of her hands fisted in the material of his shirt, and that there is _no way in hell _that he likes the smell of Shikamaru's hair or that he thinks that the way he mumbles in his sleep is cute.

_eleven_: The mission is boring. Neji discovers that Shikamaru can beat him at shogi, and spends the rest of the day sulking. Shikamaru discovers that the flowery script on the back of Sakura's shampoo and conditioner actually _delivers _on its promises, and decides that he is going to use the brand, pink sparkly bottle or not, for the rest of his life.

Sakura's discovery doesn't happen until almost three months later, when they're playing poker at her apartment. She discovers that she thinks that she might be in love with them.

The thought doesn't shock her as much as it would have a few years ago. All Sakura does is take a deep drink of some sake, and then she suggests that they play strip poker.

_twelve_: She loses. Neji and Shikamaru are gentlemen, though (and slightly more sober than she), and they don't continue the game after she has to hand over her shirt.

_thirteen_: They are genii. Being—well, being _themselves_—they should have talked it out, and figured out the changing dynamics and been _reasonable _about it, but neither Neji, Shikamaru, or Sakura do anything of that sort.

_fourteen_: Instead of meeting for their usual game of poker the next Friday evening, Neji changes out of his training clothes and Shikamaru combs his hair and puts on a nicer shirt, and Sakura dons a thoroughly impractical silk dress. They meet outside Sakura's agreement, by mutual agreement, and this time, when Sakura suggests catching a repeat showing of _ANBU Romance, _neither of them declines.

Great minds think alike.

_fifteen_: The first time Naruto sees Sakura strolling down the street one night, arm-in-arm with Hyuuga Neji and Nara Shikamaru, he falls out of the tree he had been standing on, landing with a loud yell into a clump of thorny bushes.

Sakura heals him, all the while scolding him for being so easily shocked, while Neji stands in the background, smirking as Shikamaru yawns.

Naruto closes his eyes and thinks that this must all be a horrible dream.

_sixteen_: The fact that Sakura, Neji, and Shikamaru are "dating" rocks the whole village. Much to the dismay of all the gossipmongers, they spend most of their time together in Sakura's apartment, sprawled out over the couch, watching old movies, eating her cooking and occasionally having intellectual discussions.

These evenings usually end with Shikamaru and Sakura falling asleep, nestled into Neji's rather protective hold. Leaving him to fold up the blankets, turn off the television, and pick them up, carrying them over to Sakura's pink-covered bed, where he sets them down first, before getting under the covers as well, a little awkwardly.

Her room smells like cinnamon and it is a little bit cooler than his own. He stares up at the ceiling, listening to Shikamaru talk in his sleep. Eventually, his eyes close and his head lolls against Sakura's, as he slips into a peaceful sleep.

_seventeen_: They are all smart people, so they know what they have won't last forever, even though they carefully avoid talking about it to one another. Sakura scans through the newspapers and looks at pictures of small houses for sale wistfully, nevertheless. Neji imagines what it would be like to invite both of them to dinner with the rest of his family.

(He thinks, with a touch of wry humor, that the ancient Hyuuga clan will crumble after a week of having the three of them at the head of the family.)

Shikamaru is the most impractical, though. He appropriates the Konoha lawbook and reads it thoroughly, wondering if there is some kind of civil union that will accommodate them.

_eighteen_: Despite this, Shikamaru is the one who becomes engaged first, a few months later. He tells Sakura and Neji about this in private, his face expressionless. "Arranged marriage—to preserve the bloodline, of course. She's only a distant cousin, though," he adds, "from another village. So…"

His voice fades away when he sees Sakura gazing at him, looking like she's about to cry. Neji's jaw tightens a little bit.

"I'm sorry." Shikamaru has only said this a few times in his life, and meant it. Now is one of those times.

_nineteen_: Theirs is an amicable split, if it can even be called that. Despite what his common sense tells him, all three of them still meet for poker at Sakura's—just as friends, though.

After much debate, Neji and Sakura decide to go to his wedding. Shikamaru is a little surprised to see them there, but he gives the two familiar faces in the crowd a wry smile.

_twenty_: Things aren't quite the same without Shikamaru, but Sakura accepts Neji's proposal anyway. It is the next best thing.

When they embrace, sometimes they feel the lack of their lazy genius counterpart, although neither of them ever mentions it.

Years later, there are several pictures adorning the walls of Neji and Sakura's bedroom – some that Neji claim are ridiculously and impractically cute (the portrait of the puppies frolicking in the sunny meadow), some displays that Sakura sees as too austere (like Neji's treasured first katana, which is mounted on the wall), and a few that they both manage to agree upon, like the pictures from Naruto's induction as the Rokudaime Hokage, and some from their wedding.

There is one picture in the bedside drawer that Neji and Sakura both look at around once a week. It is still framed and now it's a little faded, with age. The Sakura in that picture has her hair shorter, likes mango smoothies, and doesn't wear (very fashionable!) glasses. The Neji in that picture doesn't have a slight limp, or vague lines at the corners of his eyes, and that Neji still doesn't know how to eat ice cream or how not to smirk.

Shikamaru has a copy of the picture – the original, as a matter of fact. He had swapped it with the copy while Sakura's back had been turned. He keeps his under his first kunai pouch and sneaks secret glances at it every so often.

Sakura still wishes things could have been different, even though Neji and Shikamaru seem to have moved on.

Konohamaru still misses that picture of Konoha's three coolest shinobi—aside from Naruto, of course—that he once had.

Eventually, Neji, Sakura, and Shikamaru start to play poker again.

Because genii still need to stick together.

(This is proved further correct when the new class of genin graduate from the Academy a few months later. Hyuuga Hizashi is disgusted to note that he has been put on the same team as the "dreadfully lazy" Nara girl, Ayame—as if being forced to play house with her since the age of three hadn't been bad enough—and none other than the green-spandex clad offspring of Rock Lee.

The academy instructors, much to his displeasure, cheerfully refuse his thirty-three separate petitions for a change in teammates.

His first picture with them, at the quiet but unyielding insistence of Shino-sensei, has Nara Ayame dozing off against a disgruntled Hizashi's shoulder, as the Byakugan-wielder glares, jaded, at the camera through his curtain of dark pink hair, all while Lee Takuyo has his arms flung about both teammates' shoulders, grinning happily.)

_Always. _

-

Reviews appreciated!

(and I just _love _the image of poor Hizashi glaring at the world through his jaded pearly eyes--and curtain of immaculate dark pink hair--as Ayame snoozes on him and Takuyo flashes the Good Guy Pose. )


	3. Snapshots From The Life Of

**Note:** Well. Eh heh. It's been a long time, hasn't it? Since January, as a matter of fact. And the first thing I would like to say is that I am _so sorry_ that I've been so lax with updates. Between going to India in a month and finishing up freshman year, life has just been really stressful. But in a week, yours truly will be a sophomore in high school, and will be on her blessed summer break. Which means I'll be able to return to the Naruto fanfic world, and give Neji, Sakura, and Shikamaru the love they deserve. –hugs- 

I wrote these little drabbles while browsing through the 30threesomes section on LJ…which was about four months ago. Little snippets of the daily life of the NejiSakuShika trio. I apologize for not posting them earlier...

--

**Fool**

"I _said, _I like you. A lot." Sakura folds her arms, and tries her hardest to look composed.

Neji and Shikamaru look at her, both slightly openmouthed. "Which…one?" croaks Shikamaru at last.

Sakura remains silent, feeling a blush creep up her neck and into her face.

After about a minute of this, Neji clears his throat slightly. "Surely you don't mean—"

"Yes. Yes, I do," snaps Sakura, now feeling thoroughly ruffled. "Exactly."

Neji and Shikamaru blink in unison.

"Well, I'll just go and drown myself now," Sakura says weakly. She takes one step back. "Don't bother trying to stop me."

Before she can make it to Shikamaru's door, both of them are at her side, Neji's hand on her shoulder and Shikamaru lightly gripping the other wrist. "Don't go," Shikamaru drawls lazily. "You've only graced us with your company for such a short time this evening."

Sakura only has time to blink before Neji squeezes her shoulder very lightly. "Honestly, Sakura," he deadpans. "How stupid do you think we are?"

"What do you—" Sakura squeaks, feeling more than a little confused.

Neji leans down and kisses her on the top of her head, and Shikamaru brushes his lips against her cheek.

A few moments later, Sakura cracks her eyes open, to find two pairs of eyes, one brown and one white, staring at her curiously.

"Oh," she says at last, before fainting.

--

**Emperor**

Sometimes, Neji lets himself imagine.

He imagines unwrapping the bandages around his forehead to reveal nothing but clear, unmarked skin.

He imagines walking through the hallways of the Main House without having to deal with resentful glares from some of his relatives.

Sometimes, he dares to imagine himself as clan head.

He imagines…well, he imagines Shikamaru and Sakura at his side.

And then he envisions the ancient Hyuuga clan crumbling after a week of having the three of them as heads of the clan.

A slight smirk touches his face.

Neji doesn't let himself imagine much, but he thoroughly enjoys himself when he does.

--

**Animal**

Neji's never been one for acting on impulse. He and Shikamaru tend to plan everything out, to think things through, to carefully premeditate every little action and predict the consequences of those actions. Acting on impulse is _Sakura's _area of expertise.

That is why Shikamaru and Sakura are so completely, utterly shocked when Neji brings home a small parakeet one evening after work.

Neji is carrying the cage gently, careful not to jostle the little bird inside it. It has one wing in a splint, and it cheeps curiously, looking at the white-eyed man carrying him with such tender care.

Shikamaru almost drops his tea when he sees Neji and the bird enter the apartment, and Sakura's jaw drops.

Really, they aren't in any position to be taking care of a pet. They're shinobi, and _busy _shinobi at that. Neji's captain of ANBU, Shikamaru's head tactician, and Sakura is Konoha's best medic. Some days, they hardly have time for each other, let alone the care and management of a pet.

All these rational thoughts are running through Shikamaru and Sakura's minds, but then Neji sets the cage down on the coffee table silently. The little bird cocks his head, and warbles a few slightly off-key notes.

Sakura breaks down first. "How cute…"

Shikamaru shakes his head, but then he sees the almost-pleading expression in Neji's eyes. And he realizes that, for Neji at least, this is personal.

And that is how the little orange parakeet becomes part of their small family.

--

**Divine**

Once, Neji used to believe in destiny. That an individual's fate was completely predestined, and there was nothing one could do to change it.

…Used to. Over the years, certain events made him change his outlook on life. First was his stunning loss to Naruto during the chuunin exams. That opened his eyes, to an extent. But from then on, the state of events in the world and in Konoha, beginning with Uchiha Sasuke's defection (which he believed was the catalyst of all this), and spiraling outward to Akatsuki, and now the war, raging through every country in the world, and battering Konoha in particular.

Sometimes it's enough to make his head spin, and sometimes, he misses the days when he was naïve enough to believe that everything and everybody was destined to follow a set path in life.

Those days are a rarity, though. If somebody had told him at the age of seventeen or so, that within eight years he would be in a committed relationship with Nara Shikamaru and Haruno Sakura, he would have told them to get some air holes into their skull, before optionally beating them to a pulp for even daring to suggest such an outrageous idea.

Every day, Neji, Shikamaru, and Sakura return to their apartment after long, stressful days spent assassinating enemies, planning brilliant battle strategies, and saving lives of the precious few functional ninja remaining in Konoha, respectively. Neji returns the earliest out of all of them, usually. He slips off his hawk mask and hangs it near the door, before sliding his katana off his back and settling it in the closet – out of sight, but never out of mind. Without even the energy to take the rest of his gear off, he pads over to the carpet in front of the armchair and sinks down on the floor with a sigh.

Sakura usually comes home about an hour later, her medic's uniform stained with the blood of the patients whose lives she saved, and those of the ones beyond saving. She sits beside Neji and rests her head against his shoulder, and tries not to shiver with despair. He squeezes her hand with his, and says nothing.

Shikamaru never returns before midnight, now. His clothes aren't bloody and torn, but he looks, if that is possible, more beat down than the other two. His eyes are bloodshot, and when he looks almost helplessly out at Neji and Sakura when they hold their arms out to him, Sakura feels that he can barely even muster up a single shred of hope to hold on to.

They sit and hold each other all though the night, both of Neji's arms wrapped around each one, trying to shelter them even when he barely has enough strength to spare for himself.

"It's always the darkest before dawn," Shikamaru murmurs at last.

Sakura nods wearily. "Let's hope so."

Neji remains silent, but he kisses the tops of both their heads. Within moments, they are asleep in his arms, and he closes his eyes, and wonders if it was all meant to be this way.

The truly remarkable thing about that, he realizes, that if he were given the choice to live a perfectly normal, peaceful life _without _them, or continue living like this, he would choose this life in a heartbeat.

This knowledge no longer startles him as it used to, but as he slips off to sleep at last, Neji wonders if it was all destined to be this way.

--

**Strength**

It takes two years for things to really return to normal in the aftermath of the war, but when it's all over, Shikamaru still has his divinely afforded ability to yawn and declare that he was right and everybody else was wrong – that it really _had _been darkest before the dawn.

Of course, Neji and Sakura know that he is right (like he usually is), but they are rather proud individuals, and choose not to admit that to him.

One night, they go up to the roof of their apartment and lie down, all their heads pointing to the center of their oddly shaped triangle. It's calm and peaceful again, and from the light of the crescent moon and the silver stars, Sakura can just see the village below them. The repair efforts have been extremely successful, and Konoha looks just like it did all those years ago, when she was just a genin. Hokage Mountain is dimly illuminated, and she notices that the builders have begun carving Naruto's face into the rocks.

She sighs unconsciously, remembering, and Shikamaru coughs faintly, beside her. "Isn't it nice that we all lived through this?"

A familiar laugh echoes in her ears, and Sakura closes her eyes, fighting back sudden tears.

"Not all of us," Neji murmurs from the other side of her, and she knows that he remembers their Fifth as well.

Shikamaru nods acknowledgment, but he doesn't say that he wonders if he would have made it through the war without them by his side.

(He doesn't need to. Neji has the same secret doubts, and Sakura feels the same way.)

Impulsively, he squeezes both their hands, relying on the simple gesture to get across the meaning of what he can't quite say yet. Sakura smiles faintly, even though the tears are still rolling down her cheeks. Neji turns his head toward Shikamaru, and a look of understanding passes between them.

None of them could have gotten through this without the other there by their side, because no matter what their individual skills are, above all, they are each other's strength.

--

-sigh- I love them.

Reviews appreciated!


	4. Umbrella

**Note: **A short, cute bit of NejiSakuShika. "You can stand under my umbrella." Line shamelessly ripped off from Rihanna's hit single, which is not mine. Alas, neither are the three genii.

--

Neji hates monsoon season with a burning passion hotter than the fire that burns from ten thousand suns. _No, _the perpetually gloomy, overcast weather during monsoon season does _not _appeal to his generally stoic personality, contrary to popular belief.

Instead, Neji likes bright, hot sunny days with no clouds in the sky, because they give him an excuse to walk into the ice cream store and get a triple-scoop watermelon swirl waffle cone without feeling like a complete and total idiot.

"No, I am not going to tell you why I prefer summer to this abominable weather," Neji tells Sakura in a complete deadpan. "It should be obvious."

Sakura sighs, pushing a lock of her completely soaked hair out of her face. "I'll tell you why _I _hate monsoon season," she says in an unnecessarily loud voice, directing a poisonous look toward a certain head tactician standing a little distance away from them. "I _hate _it because it randomly starts to _pour _torrents when the weather had been perfectly fine earlier, _which means _that some people tend to forget to bring their umbrellas to work."

Shikamaru whistles a tune innocently to himself, and inspects the top of his polka-dotted umbrella.

Sakura almost falls facedown out of the sheer frustration.

Neji sighs. His pride refuses to let him drop shameless hints at the lazy Nara as the medic-nin is doing. But he has to admit that simply being rained on is getting old. His hair is sopping, his feet are cold, and his robes are probably beyond repair.

"I hate Tsunade-shisou," Sakura says at last, kicking at the locked door of Hokage Tower. "She's half an hour late."

Neji nods depressed acknowledgement.

Both of them direct subtle looks at the completely dry, still-whistling Nara Shikamaru, and then try to pretend they hadn't been looking.

Neji decides to try and send auras of killing intent toward the younger jounin, and see if that works.

It doesn't.

After another few minutes of excruciating silence, Shikamaru clears his throat. "You two _can _stand under my umbrella, you know."

A thoroughly infuriated Sakura kicks a glob of mud at the pristine young man. Neji has to restrain himself from doing the same. "Don't say that as if it's the most obvious thing in the world, you idiot! If you had mentioned it half an hour ago, Neji and I wouldn't look like…_this_!"

Shikamaru simply holds the umbrella out, a bored expression on his face.

Sakura joins him under it, all the while distinctly muttering about the stupidity of certain shinobi who expect everyone else to read their mind.

They both give Neji questioning looks.

A few moments of silence, as the Hyuuga prodigy beats his pride into a little box, before grudgingly clustering under the pathetic pink polka-dotted umbrella with the other two. It is a very tight fit, squeezing all three of them into the limited circumference of the umbrella's shelter, but it works. Sakura has to admit that Shikamaru feels pleasantly warm, and that Neji's cologne smells very nice.

Tsunade shows up fifteen minutes later, completely dry. She gives her three prized shinobi a questioning look upon seeing them clustered under the small roseate-colored umbrella. "My, don't we look cozy," she says slyly, unlocking the doors of Hokage Tower and strolling inside.

This time, there are three individual auras of killing intent strongly directed at the esteemed Godaime, as Shikamaru snaps the umbrella shut, and the three genii shuffle inside, almost reluctantly.

Tsunade smirks. She loves monsoon season.

(And she decides to be late tomorrow, too. But that's something that Neji, Sakura, and Shikamaru don't have to know quite yet. She can collect her thanks from Sakura later, after all.)

--

Tsunade is deliciously evil, although you know that Neji, Sakura, and Shika are all very glad she's late. XD

Reviews appreciated!


	5. Dashboard

**Note: **Another song-inspired bit of NejiSakuShika, this time loosely based on the awesome song by Modest Mouse – _Dashboard._

-

By all means of logic and reason, Sakura _should _be the optimistic one in their little group of three. She's a medic-nin, dedicated to saving lives, she's female, and she has pink hair, for god's sake. That alone, in the considerable mind of Nara Shikamaru, _should_ make her the only thing that saves them from dying a slow death of insanity.

However, life can be a complete, utter bitch sometimes. As if he wasn't already completely convinced of this by the _freak_ inclement weather consisting of monsoon season, the state of events just kept getting worse.

He had been trapped in this dilapidated little hut with Neji and Sakura for three days, and Sakura was already convinced that they were going to die here.

But then, the roof was leaking, the floor was damp and slippery, the walls were slimy, and the whole hut smelled rather unpleasantly of earth. The wind howled nonstop, and threatened to blow the roof of their pathetic little shelter.

Hardly reassuring.

Sakura had been all for dashing back to Konoha as soon as they even detected the signs of the storm. But by then, it was already starting to drizzle, and oh-so-beloved team leader Neji had deemed it unsafe. They would find a shelter and wait the storm out there, before continuing on home.

Shikamaru is slightly ashamed to admit that, at the time, he had agreed with Neji. The thought of kicking his heels in a solid establishment with his two favorite shinobi this side of nowhere thoroughly beat the one of a frantic race back to their village.

…That had been three days ago.

Now Shikamaru finds himself unable to escape his own traitorous mind – thoughts of soft beds, _dry _living areas, food that isn't sodden roots and berries – dominate his consciousness. Besides, he would probably enjoy Neji and Sakura's company more in a suitable living area.

(At least, that was what he thought.)

Neji is cramped into the driest corner of the room, attempting to meditate. Thanks to the slight twitch in his left eye, it doesn't seem to be doing him much good.

Sakura is pacing circles near the window, peering outside anxiously. Shikamaru can't see _why_, though – there's hardly any view apart from the rainwater.

A long silence stretches between the three. Normally, this would be quite fine with him, because of the more optimal sleeping conditions, but the rain is making him contrary.

Shikamaru clears his throat. "It could have been worse," he announces to the room.

Neji's eyes snap open and Sakura stops pacing. The level of incredulity in the room skyrockets.

"Well, I mean," Shikamaru continues, plunging forward with a very uncharacteristic impulsiveness, "It _should have _been worse. We only found this…thing…in the woods because of the stupidity of some civilian farmer. Imagine being stuck out there with this storm going on."

"Optimism doesn't suit you, Shikamaru," Neji cuts in dryly. "While you might be making some valid points, I am too busy being surprised at the fact that you're even making an effort."

Sakura shrugs. "Well, I don't know, Neji. He's got a point. At least we're slightly drier in here than we would be out there."

"Speak for yourself," the Hyuuga returns moodily. His heavy white robes are rather soaked, as he was the one who scoped out this shelter for them, with the aid of his Byakugan.

"Well, I _suggested_ you take them off and let me dry them, but _no_—"

Shikamaru notes, with no small amount of amusement, that Neji's cheeks are tinged with a faint shade of pink.

Sakura goes on in a similar vein for a minute or so before exhausting herself. She flings herself down on the single dry sheet that they had salvaged from their respective travel packs. "I wish we had gone back to Konoha."

"Join the club," Neji and Shikamaru say in unison.

Neji sighs, and Shikamaru notices how very exhausted and limp he looks. "We schemed and schemed to get that A-ranked mission completed successfully, and we end up _here, _probably three days over our return deadline. We blew it."

"Aah, you're oddly defeated today. Troublesome." Shikamaru flops down on the sheet as well, his arm a few inches from Sakura's. He wiggles his toes experimentally. "We crashed. But we're here, and we might as well enjoy it, right?"

The kunoichi snorts. "Enjoy _this_? The only way I could possibly enjoy this would be seeing Neji go outside and jump around in a puddle or two, and that's a tad unlikely to happen."

Neji glowers. "Just a _tad, _yes."

Sakura and Shikamaru both give him winning smiles, until the expression on his face softens a little, and he joins them on the sheet. "Fine. But this doesn't mean I'm jumping in any puddles."

"I never suggested jumping in any puddles." Shikamaru lies down flat on his back, wincing at the twinging of his sore muscles. "You two are dreadfully unimaginative."

To her credit, Sakura gets it first. "Oh, _come on, _Shikamaru. Are you insane? Dilapidated hut in the middle of nowhere, while an ungodly storm rages around us. That is so cliché I wouldn't have even expected it of you."

"Cliché?" Shikamaru inquires innocently.

"_Yes, _cliché. I could swear that Jiraiya-sama has used this same premise no less than thirty times in those dreadful novels of his—"

"Hn, Sakura, how would _you_ know the contents of such dreadful novels? And memorized the number of times such events occur, as well?" Neji interrupts, cocking an eyebrow. "Such knowledge, even to such considerable intellect as myself, would require considerable perusal of said dreadful novels."

In the suspicious silence that follows this observation, Sakura blushes until her face resembles an apple.

"I knew it," Neji declares to the ceiling. "She _is _a closet pervert."

Before Sakura can jump in with outraged denials, Shikamaru rolls his eyes. "I suppose this means I owe you five hundred yen?"

"You are quite right."

"What a drag."

Neji smirks with accomplishment.

…The smirk doesn't last long, however, because Sakura hits both him and Shikamaru on the head. "_Idiots! _You bet on my reading material?"

"Of course," Shikamaru manages, rubbing the bump on his head. "Troublesome woman."

Sakura folds her arms and turns away from the men, her nose in the air. "You can kiss your idea of _enjoying _this cliché situation goodbye, Nara. I am not deigning to speak to you _or _your equally asinine betting companion for the remainder of our…stay…here."

Neji shoots Shikamaru a pointed _now-look-what-you-did_ glance.

Shikamaru lifts a shoulder, thoroughly baffled.

After a few minutes of silent communication between Neji and Shikamaru, they decide to take matters into their own hands, and make this thoroughly unsuitable situation a little bit better.

They both inch a little closer to the irate medic-nin, even though every self-preservation instinct in Neji's mind is screaming at him to start running in the opposite direction.

Shikamaru kisses her right cheek, Neji her left. Neji wraps an arm around her waist, while Shikamaru draws his around her shoulders.

"Forgive us?" they murmur in unison.

Sakura has always prided herself on having extremely strong willpower. Besides, she knows that they probably aren't _really _sorry, but…still. She wars with herself for a minute or so.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?) for Sakura, there are some situations when hormones take more precedence over logic and common sense.

Neji and Shikamaru barely have time to inhale again before they feel a small hand on each of their chests, and suddenly, they are flat on their backs on the sheet, blinking up at Sakura and feeling rather stunned.

"Forgiven," she purrs, before placing one of her hands on either side of their heads, and bending down a little…

¤

The storm takes another day to abate.

Neji, Sakura, and Shikamaru take their leave of the little hut as soon as humanly possible, just as the sun is rising over the horizon. They are quiet with contentment as it ascends higher into the sky, bathing them in somewhat watery golden light.

"So," Shikamaru says at last, a note of definite smugness in his voice.

"It wasn't quite as bad as—" Sakura begins.

Neji turns his head to look at the both of them, and they can see the smile on his face. "It could have been, _should_ have been, worse than we would ever know."

Shikamaru smirks. "You're learning."

-

Reviews appreciated!


	6. Thirty Romances, I

**Note: **Real life, and my compulsive tendency to carry five fics at once, own me more than you shall ever know. Hopefully this does a little to make up for the almost-three-month wait. Neji, Sakura, and Shikamaru take on thirty romances. Set one of three.

¤

_one: (cold hands, cold feet)_

Sakura would like to think of herself as a completely loving, patient, gentle, and lovable person. Anybody who knows her, however, _knows_ that while the kunoichi is certainly admirable in a score of different ways, she also has "slightly psychopathic tendencies," description courtesy of one Nara Shikamaru.

When Neji hears Sakura's new nickname hit Konoha's circulation, he stops by Shikamaru's office on his lunch break and raises his eyebrow a little. "Do you _have_ a death wish?" he inquires mildly.

Shikamaru yawns. "She kicked us out of bed last night because _our feet were cold._"

Neji sighs. "You know how ridiculous she is about her 'beauty sleep'."

"You know that it wasn't really by _choice _that we were up until midnight doing those troublesome ANBU patrols around the village borders," Shikamaru retorts.

"…True." Even though Neji is a self-diagnosed workaholic, and _proud_ of that fact, damn it, even he can admit that there are places he'd rather be instead of being stuck patrolling on a cold night with the almost Naruto-worthy caliber of sheer annoyance that is Inuzuka Kiba. A warm bed with Shikamaru and Sakura would have been infinitely preferable.

"And you know how bad the sofa is for your back," Shikamaru wheedles.

"You should be less obvious about justifying your actions. _And_ you stole all the sheets, to boot. Give me one reason why I shouldn't find somewhere else to be when our dear Sakura finds out who exactly is responsible for her new nickname."

Shikamaru exhales slowly and then proceeds to fix Neji with a stare. "Because I love you very, very much," he says in a deadpan voice.

Neji stares back. Then he blinks. "That is somehow disturbing. Never do it again."

Disgruntled, Shikamaru shuffles his papers in a pointed fashion. "It sounds even more disturbing when coming from _you_, so I wouldn't talk."

"Fine," Neji relents. He retreats into his mind for a moment, and then shakes his head. "I do not even know why we are discussing this, because—"

"Because I suppose my personal well-being will be in immediate danger when Sakura finds out that 'psychopath' has been unofficially added to her list of significant attributes?"

Neji smirks. "No. Because, after all, we could always blame it on Naruto. Or better yet—"

"—Sai," they finish in unison, two remarkably alike evil grins spreading across their countenances.

Neji offers his hand to Shikamaru, who takes it, and pulls him up to a standing position. "Lunch?"

"Of course." The lazy genius stretches. "Hopefully, we might even run into an enraged Sakura."

"And in order to console her, we will have to tell the tale of Sai's treachery."

"…And in case she is still upset, we should do our best to alleviate her tensions when she comes home from work."

The two prodigies exchange self-satisfied glances. "I like the way you think," Neji declares.

Shikamaru offers his take on Neji's trademark smirk. "I know."

-

_two: the subconscious; bury_

"I don't know," Uchiha Sasuke says, glaring darkly over his drink at the three shinobi currently occupying the secluded corner booth of the smoky bar. "I just have…a _feeling._"

Naruto nudges Sasuke, a wide grin on his face. "A feeling? Remember what happened last time you had a _feeling_?"

"I deserted Konoha, joined forces with the enemy, and almost became an S-ranked criminal," Sasuke replies in his usual monotone.

"And that is exactly why the counselors say that we should _talk_ about our feelings this time around!"

"…I feel that your smile makes me want to stab my eyes out with a rusty kunai."

Naruto directs a somewhat-guilty look at the straitjacket the Uchiha is currently wearing. "Sorry. Back to our feelings?"

Sasuke gestures with his nose. "They seem…close. In a vaguely disturbing and unsetting way that I can't quite put my finger on."

Naruto and Sasuke both stare blankly at Neji, Shikamaru, and Sakura.

"—Do they have an illicit blood-bond – don't look at me like that, dobe, those come with some of the stranger healing jutsu - or a curse seal placed on them or anything?" Sasuke cranes his neck subtly, driven by his somewhat morbid curiosity, in time to catch sight of Neji choking on his martini in response to some sort of comment Sakura has just made.

Naruto smacks his head with sudden realization. "No, you idiot! They're _together._"

Sasuke blinks in a rather uncommon show of density. "What, the Hyuuga and Sakura?"

Naruto gives him a _what-the-hell_ look. "No."

"Nara, then?"

Silence.

Sasuke assumes the worst, and loses all of his pallor. "Nara and a _Hyuuga_? Plague on both our houses—"

Naruto takes advantage of Sasuke's straitjacketed state to hit him hard on the head.

"What the _hell_?" he manages, before trying, and failing, to rub his head on the table.

"Shikamaru. Neji. Sakura. Are _together. All_ of them. …What, did all that time spent in the snake's cave make you go retarded or something?"

After surviving the Uchiha Massacre, his own defection, defeating Orochimaru and (accidentally, but still) Itachi, and his redemption and subsequent return to Konoha, upon hearing this now-commonplace staple of Konoha gossip, Uchiha Sasuke almost chokes to death on his martini.

-

_three: anvil; banter_

There are times when Sakura finds it a tad frustrating to be dating two of Konoha's foremost prodigies. However, she has one considerable weapon in her arsenal that they don't: The power of circular reasoning.

"Why do _we _have to make dinner tonight?" Shikamaru slinks out of the kitchen, throwing furtive looks around, as if his comrades will suddenly pop out from behind the sofa, holding cameras and laughing. After all, it isn't every day that he is forced to don an apron. One with _ruffles_, no less. Dilapidated ruffles, but still. Meanwhile, Neji is staring at the cookbook and rotating it ninety degrees, tilting his head experimentally, as if the ingredients are written in a different language.

Sakura places her hands on her hips, and both men inwardly marvel at how it is possible for even a sick kunoichi to look so intimidating. "Because I said so."

Neji opens his mouth, waiting for the customary pithy retort to summon itself. To his astonishment, nothing comes.

He looks over at Shikamaru, who shakes his head grimly. "I got nothing."

Sakura smiles in a deceptively sweet fashion. "That's what I thought."

-

_four: diabolical; highest order_

The day Hatake Kakashi discovers that somebody has been stealing his Icha Icha novels is the day that a state of panic goes up all over Konoha. One, a kleptomaniac skilled enough to steal from _the_ Copy Ninja is certainly a force to be feared. Two, no Icha novels are safe. There is a sudden dash to furniture stores around Konoha, so that all the closet perverts may find a safe cabinet to lock their stashes in.

The day that Neji and Shikamaru decide to come home early and find Sakura curled up on the recliner, amid a huge pile of orange-covered books, they both privately decide that the world has gone to hell.

"Sakura, you're reading _porn!_" Shikamaru manages, the shock obviously impeding both his coherency and disturbing his perpetual calm.

"You aren't just reading _porn,_ you're reading _Kakashi's_ porn." Neither of them has seen such a marked look of horror on Neji's face since Naruto and Hinata started dating. "_You're_ the one who's been—"

"It's not really _stealing._" Sakura sits up, looking rather sheepish, having abandoned her futile pursuit of trying to hide all the novels under assorted cushions. "I prefer to think of it as borrowing."

"Borrowing?" croaks Shikamaru, trying determinedly not to look at the nearest cover.

The medic-nin shrugs defensively. "Like Kakashi-sensei would have let his precious only female student read this stuff. It's not _porn,_ by the way, it's _erotica._"

"Oh, pardon us," Neji rolls his eyes. "There's such a huge difference."

"Tell me why we shouldn't tell Kakashi all his stuff is here." Shikamaru gives her a fish-eyed look. "You do know he's going insane, right?"

There is a rather guilty look in her eyes. "I plan to return them. Eventually." She glances at both of them, before gesturing around to the novels scattered all around the immediate area, as well as directing a longing look at the open volume in her lap. "Um, do you two care to join me?"

Neji crosses his arms and makes a point of staring at a fixed point somewhere far above both of their heads. "Hyuugas do not read erotically themed novels."

Shikamaru can't restrain a snort. "I think we're all over eighteen here, _Neji-kun._"

"Think of it as a learning experience!" Sakura says enthusiastically, waving her book in the air.

At the words 'learning experience', Neji opens one eye a tiny bit and peers at the other two suspiciously. "Shikamaru, please do not tell me you have joined in this madness."

"If you can't beat 'em, join them." Shikamaru shrugs. "Less troublesome that way." He tosses Neji a worn copy of _Icha Icha Special ANBU Edition. _

Sakura beams at him from her spot on the recliner. "And don't even think of giving us that whole 'Hyuugas do not give in to peer pressure' speal, okay?"

Shikamaru leafs through his volume of _Icha Icha Paradise._ "Interesting," he muses to himself. "The majority of these techniques might actually have real-life applications."

Neji shuts up and starts to read.

-

_five: trickery; magic_

One of the rules in the Unofficial Hyuuga Handbook © Hyuuga Neji is that Hyuugas must never admit to believing in silly superstitions. Such as wishing on shooting stars and the like.

Interestingly enough, the only wish that Neji ever, _ever_ made on a shooting star (born out of a moment of impulse and not something stupid like sentimental notions or anything) was also the only one that ever came true. It's a marker of how strong their relationship is that when Neji confesses this to Sakura and Shikamaru that neither of them laughs at him. Sakura ruffles his hair and calls him adorable, and Shikamaru squeezes his hand comfortingly.

Later that night, after the two of them have fallen asleep, Neji wanders to the window and simply sits there for a while, gazing at the night sky and waiting.

He closes his eyes and wishes on the next shooting star that comes along, Unofficial Hyuuga Handbook completely forgotten.

-

_six: so not funny; sarcasm_

One of the best kept secrets of Konoha: There are times when Neji, Shikamaru, and Sakura like to take breaks from being their usual extremely brilliant selves.

If asked about this, Neji would deny it passionately, Shikamaru would yawn and say that forcing his intellect to stop being so intellectual would be too troublesome, and Sakura would blush and decline to comment further.

However, Tsunade knows better.

"You three staged the First Great Ninja war at midnight…starting by decimating several perfectly good training grounds and a good part of the forest and ending up, Kami knows how, in the middle of the lake, therefore draining it of a good one-sixth of its water…using S-ranked jutsu…completely exhausting your chakra…have I left anything else out?" The Godaime Hokage taps a deadly beat out with the tip of her high heel, giving the three occupants of the nearest hospital beds very, very dangerous looks.

"We wrecked a playground," Neji says meekly.

"And I threw the kids' slide into one of the water towers," Sakura mutters.

"And I accidentally froze the shadow of the giant squid in the lake so that its tentacles are all tangled up," Shikamaru adds.

Tsunade inhales. Exhales. Inhales again.

"_Why_?" she roars.

Cowed silence all around.

"We were bored," Shikamaru offers.

Tsunade looks very much as if she is trying her best not to explode. "_So_ not funny," she manages at last, in a deceptively controlled voice.

"We weren't trying to be, Tsunade-sama," Sakura assures.

"We just got a tad carried away," Neji clarifies.

Tsunade shakes her head. "I need sake." She walks to the door, and then stops halfway through, throwing her three prized shinobi a baleful glare. "You three are _never_ having children."

Shikamaru shudders as soon as she leaves. "She seems too sure about that to be healthy. I wish it could have sounded more like sarcasm."

Neji's left eye twitches. "She wouldn't. …Would she?"

Sakura shakes her head sadly. "You never know with her."

"Next time we're bored, can't we settle things the old-fashioned way?" Shikamaru asks mournfully.

"That doesn't sound too bad," Neji and Sakura say in unison.

-

_seven: think pink; blow_

The day Neji stops associating pink with his overly fussy great-aunt and the hideous woolen cloaks she used to knit for him is the same day that Shikamaru can see the color without shuddering at the memories of his mother (and later, Ino) forcing his toddler self into frippery little garments varying in shade from pale strawberry to violent magenta.

They are sitting together in Ichiraku Ramen, waiting for the third member of their customary party to join them. As usual, the color of her hair distinguishes her from the rest of the crowd as she navigates through the crush of bodies to join them. She looks completely worn out from work, but manages a smile in greeting, nevertheless.

Neji has no idea what atrocities his facial expressions commit when faced with that smile, although he has a deep-seated fear that they lose their usual impassive features in favor of…a smile in return, perhaps a _blush_. Heaven forbid.

His phobia is confirmed when Shikamaru leans across to him while Sakura is off ordering their food. "You've got this troublesome affliction really bad, yeah?"

Neji is about to retort with a sharp denial when he takes another look at his closest friend's face. Slightly tinted with color, a barely visible touching the corners of his lips, and less of the usual lethargy than usual.

He inclines his head, his voice sounding ruefully humorous. "Just as much as you do."

Sakura chooses that moment to slip back into her seat, precariously balancing one drink for each of them. She proposes the customary shinobi toast to good health, and Neji decides that redefining pink – and maybe his newfound extended tolerance for lazy ninja who sleep on their job as head tactician – might not be so bad, after all.

-

_eight: analysis; collection_

Underneath the sleepy couldn't-give-a-damn-even-if-you-paid-me exterior, Shikamaru likes to analyze things. It's why he loves his job so much. Of course, he would never admit to either of those things.

He would have made an excellent psychiatrist if he had shown any interest in the position. However, being Shikamaru, he finds the idea of all the pressure that psychiatry to an entire shinobi village, with every inhabitant carrying their own boatload of emotional and mental issues, completely frightening. So he sticks to psychoanalyzing people on his own time. Much easier and more fun. Besides, he gets break times and naptime whenever he feels like it.

Most of the inhabitants of Konoha, and every member of his own Rookie Nine and Team Gai have been completely dissected by his mind. Honestly, he could write a book on them, and he plans to, when he is old and approaching senility.

Shikamaru is a smart person in that he doesn't hold too much stock on first impressions. It seems to him like everybody makes it out to be a huge deal, but he sees first impressions as the tiniest, most miniscule fragments of a person's soul. Hell, if he relied on first impressions solely, he would have gone through life thinking that Hyuuga Neji had a stick as tall as Hokage Tower up his ass, and that Haruno Sakura was an overly emotional female with self-destructive tendencies regarding her obsession with a male of dubious nature. Both assumptions, as he eventually finds, are patently untrue.

Shikamaru has no problems with eating his words. After returning from the ill-fated mission to retrieve the Uchiha, he and a still-recovering Neji had taken a walk around the village, a suggestion from none other than the ever-exuberant Maito Gai. They had walked in companionable silence for a while, for the first time, neither of them feeling pressured to talk about the horrors that they had experienced. Shikamaru still doesn't know _how_ exactly they ended up standing in the ice cream store, but he distinctly remembers the shock he had felt when he saw Neji enthusiastically order and devour a triple-scoop watermelon ice cream cone about as big as his head. He feels stupid when he realizes that he has never really thought of the white-eyed boy as being _human_ before, not even when he was lying flat on his back in the dirt ground of the chuunin examination field, bleeding from Naruto's stunning punch, not even when he saw that Neji bled red, just like the rest of them.

He is fifteen, almost sixteen, years old when he sees Sakura piece bleeding bodies back together on the field, extract poison from blood with a few motions of her hand, and heal injuries brought on by such atrociously brutal jutsu that Shikamaru doesn't even like to think about them. She does all of this with a look of icy resolve in her eyes, so determined to save the lives of her fellow shinobi. The first time he witnesses her new combat skills is during her second try at the chuunin exams, when she defeats her opponent in the third round within five seconds of the beginning of the match. Her knuckles drip blood from the force of the punch she had thrown, strong enough to shatter the rock shield the Stone ninja had thrown up, as well as knocking him out cold. Shikamaru raises his eyebrows, and contemplates that her tendencies have shifted from _self_-destructive to destructive of other people. He mentally adds her to his list of scary females, and resolves never to get on her bad side.

Shikamaru understands them almost more than he understands himself. He understands why Neji drives himself to be the best he can be, despite physical injury or other kinds of strain. He understands why everything is so personal for Sakura, no matter if it's a complete stranger's life she's saving, or one of her own comrades.

He understands their individual strengths and weaknesses, and above all, he understands why they are so much stronger together than apart.

-

_nine: rush; thrill; exhilaration_

Her muscles scream their protest as she leaps from branch to branch, her feet barely alighting on each for more than a second. Ignoring how out-of-breath she is, Sakura fuels herself with an extra burst of chakra, sailing forward with her last reserves of speed.

All too soon, she's tumbling out of the forest, down into the soft green grass of the meadow. Her breath leaves her body with a gasp as she lands in a heap, and she barely registers the two other figures soar out after her, with considerably more grace, to boot.

Neji and Shikamaru land on opposite sides of her, barely breathing hard. "Much better," Neji acknowledges, reaching out a hand to help her up.

Shikamaru rests a hand on the small of her back, assisting her wobbly legs in standing. "Thanks," she manages. "How many seconds?"

Neji looks toward Shikamaru. The tactician shrugs. "Fifteen milliseconds ahead, at least."

Sakura finds enough energy in her to summon a satisfied smile. "Shall we make it twenty?"

Neji stands up as well, stretching his sore muscles. "In a minute. Besides, I'm fairly sure that we owe you a reward." He smirks, having reason to believe that Sakura's speed has increased in leaps and bounds since she managed to get them to agree to a free kiss each time that she beat them in the usual fifteen-mile sprint.

Behind Sakura, Shikamaru straightens slightly and looks rather more enthusiastic.

Sakura smirks, pulling them close and trailing a small hand down each of their chests. "I actually think," she murmurs contemplatively, her eyelashes fluttering a little as she gazes up at them, "that I might want to collect that reward later. With interest."

Neji and Shikamaru almost fall over themselves in their subsequent declarations that that plan of action would be quite all right with them.

The kunoichi smiles sweetly, before disentangling herself from the embrace and strolling away, throwing them a teasing look over her shoulder. "Of course, that only applies if I make it twenty-one milliseconds earlier by dinnertime."

Neji sighs deeply. "My feet hurt."

Shikamaru claps him on the back sympathetically as they start to follow Sakura to the starting point. "Think about it this way: It'll all be worth it."

"Not if I fall asleep before then," Neji mutters.

Shikamaru exhales. "Fine. Shall we run up there and persuade her to change her mind, and make it, say, seventeen milliseconds?"

Neji brightens somewhat. "Sounds good to me. Let's just hope her resolve is easy to melt."

(It turns out that Sakura's resolve is indeed easy to melt. She hates to admit it, but Neji and Shikamaru giving her pleading _we'll-sell-our-souls_ looks will always outweigh the benefits of an exhilarating run through the woods. Besides, _their_ kind of exhilarating is definitely fine by her.)

-

_ten: dictionary; search_

Neji doesn't wake up one morning and decide to flagrantly flaunt all of his clan's most longstanding conventions by entering into a relationship with the infamously lazy Nara heir and the infamously hot-tempered protégé of the Godaime Hokage. Honestly, he never searches for trouble. Trouble just finds Neji like silver finds a huge, huge magnet or like Naruto's uncanny ability to sense any and all ramen within twenty miles.

Secretly, he doesn't mind. He likes the spice it brings to his life. And in the case of Sakura and Shikamaru, at the risk of sounding hopelessly sappy, it might be one of the best things that have ever happened to him.

Sakura had heard the old adage of finding somebody special when you weren't looking for them a million times over. She had honestly given up on it, but then, when Naruto and Sai ditched her at Ichiraku and she ran into Neji and Shikamaru having dinner there instead, she hadn't had any idea that she was finding her two soulmates.

Shikamaru wakes up every morning and hopes that life will not throw anything too troublesome at him that day. That wish is denied every day, especially on the days that Neji and Sakura decide to waltz into his life and throw his desired balance into complete disarray.

Incongruously, Shikamaru likes those days the best.

¤

Reviews appreciated!


	7. Thirty Romances, II

**Note:** As always, thank you to everybody who reviewed. :)

¤

_eleven: mission possible_

The third consecutive time that Neji, Sakura, and Shikamaru are paired together for surveillance missions of varying natures, Sakura decides that maybe it's time to be suspicious. After all, when her shisou isn't getting drunk on sake or taking a leaf out of Shikamaru's book and taking naps on important papers of state, Tsunade has a very sharp – and when the situation calls for it, devious – mind.

And, for Kami's sake, if _Tsunade_ is picking up on certain…things, then Sakura knows that she should be worried. In terms of perceptiveness, the Godaime falls behind Kakashi, Ino, Naruto, and Tenten, who are part of the group who knows her best. Sakura shudders to think at the havoc that would ensue if _Ino_, or worse, _Naruto_ found out about the highly secret…things…going on in her mind in regard to Shika and Neji.

She cracks an eye open from her spot on the bed and glares at the two men, who are sitting on the floor nearby and innocently playing a game of shogi, completely unaware to the mental confusion they are causing her.

Damn them.

Sakura buries her head in her pillow and curses fate. After they get into bed, their shared weight dipping it down quite a bit and making the springs creak alarmingly, before taking respectable distances away from her, she curses herself for not hating – or feeling uncomfortable in the least – with the situation she is in.

A few weeks later, she has a somewhat awkward discussion about this with her shisou.

When Sakura is finished scrutinizing her boots as her face turns different shades of red, she chances a glance up, to see that Tsunade is regarding her with one eyebrow raised. "Sakura, do you _want_ me to stop assigning you missions with them?"

Sakura knows the right, proper answer, but her eyes drift downwards again as she scrunches her toes, uncomfortably aware of the faint blush again spreading to her cheeks. "No."

Tsunade's voice, when it comes, is uncommonly gentle, and she reaches a hand out to lightly brush the shoulder of the young woman who has become like a daughter to her. "You, Nara Shikamaru, and Hyuuga Neji are the three most brilliant minds of your generation, an excellent team, and a valuable asset to our village. That's all I will assume and all I will explain to others, unless you wish to tell me otherwise."

Next month, Sakura is assigned another mission with Neji and Shikamaru. She holds the paper gently, looking at the two names written in Tsunade's precise handwriting, and understands what her mentor has been trying to tell her.

She bows her head a little, a small smile gracing her features. "Thank you, shisou."

-

_twelve: headache_

Sometimes life gives Shikamaru a migraine.

Well, maybe it's not _life_ in general. Whatever it is, though, it leaves the brilliant tactician nursing splitting headaches at least once a week; headaches that come on at the drop of a hat, and lingers for days.

The obvious solution would be to see Sakura and demand a cure. However, Shikamaru finds out the hard way that migraines are one of the approximately four things that medical chakra has next to no effect on. He decides that fate hates him.

Tsunade herself recommends "natural" or "holistic" healing methods, and tells him to relax.

Now, Shikamaru wouldn't have a clue what "natural" or "holistic" methods were even if they hit him on the head. So, albeit grudgingly, he turns to the two other genii in his lives and asks them to help.

Neji recommends that he meditate. Shikamaru is skeptical – after all, if somebody told Neji that they were slowly bleeding to death from a wound in their foot, he would tell them to meditate, concentrate their chakra, and block out the pain from their mind. In happy little headache-free Hyuuga Land, meditation solves all.

So Shikamaru tries that. It doesn't work. Despite all the time he spends zoning out and sleeping, he is medically unable to clear his mind and empty it of all thought. It's just impossible.

Fed up, he goes to Sakura and asks her what _she_ thinks he should do. She recommends eating a healthier diet and learning how to let go of the stress in his life.

So Shikamaru eats baby carrots six times a day and a tomato every morning with breakfast. This would be all right, but then he realizes something startling. He has no idea about how to "let go" of his stress.

When he tells Neji and Sakura about this, Neji gives him a blank look, as expected. However, Sakura claps her hands excitedly and suggests that a "romantic getaway" would help all three of them unwind.

As she chatters excitedly, Neji and Shikamaru have time to exchange looks of great trepidation. Then Shikamaru's head twinges painfully, and as he rubs it, he decides that whatever girly horrors Sakura has planned – if they get rid of this damned headache – would be worth it.

Their first day at the hot springs resort does not go extremely well. Neji gets hit on by several old women, and is reduced to wrapping several towels around himself, so that his feet and face are the only parts of bare skin visible. Sakura loses their room reservation to some pervy old man who paid a huge amount of money for the room that _she_ had reserved beforehand, and it takes the combined efforts of Neji and Shikamaru to drag her away from the scene before things can get too scary. The hot springs are a little _too_ hot for Shikamaru's tastes, which leaves his skin red and rather uncomfortable. And his head still hurts, to boot.

That night, they curl up on the slightly-too-small-but-still-extremely-soft bed and stare at each other disconsolately.

"We've tried meditation, improved diet, and hot springs," Sakura sighs. "Shikamaru, you're a medical mystery."

"Just the kind of compliment I had hoped never to receive," he groans from under his pillow.

Neji breaks the contemplative silence he has been maintaining for the past few minutes. "Maybe we need to try a new method," he suggests.

"Like?" Sakura prompts.

Neji raises an eyebrow at Shikamaru. "Maybe you need to forget about the pain, and then it will forget about you."

"…Is that some kinda Chinese proverb or something?"

Sakura giggles. "I think that was Neji trying to hit on us."

"It was nothing of the sort," he replies, sounding mildly affronted.

"Let me guess, Hyuugas don't hit on people," Shikamaru mutters.

Neji sniffs aristocratically. "We do not. We go about our courtships with more finesse."

Sakura leans back, after almost placing her elbow on Shikamaru's pillow-covered face. "Finesse? Why, this should be interesting."

After that close call, Shika removes the pillow and manages to give Neji a suggestive look through the headache. "Blow my mind with your finesse, Hyuuga. Sakura, do your worst. Maybe then I can forget about this damned headache."

Neji and Sakura exchange glances, and mutually decide to respond to the obvious baiting.

The next morning, Shikamaru wakes up with no headache to be found.

Content, he flops back down into bed and snuggles up against the two pleasantly warm bodies. "I think we finally found a cure," he murmurs.

"Reenacting Icha Icha Paradise at its best?" Sakura replies sleepily. "I suppose it could have been worse."

Neji interrupts himself from his beauty sleep long enough to give Shikamaru and Sakura withering looks. "I suggest that you two go back to sleep before I ensure that _both_ of you mysteriously develop migraines."

Sakura smirks. "I wouldn't mind – after all, then I would be deserving of our amazing migraine cure. Hardly something to complain about, don't you think?"

Shikamaru settles back into bed, resting his hands behind his head as he smiles contentedly up at the ceiling. "Certainly not."

-

_thirteen: heads or tails, you lose_

Times like this, Neji wonders _why_ he ever lets himself get roped into these atrocious "game nights" at the Inuzuka complex.

Ordinarily, he'd never even be caught _dead_ near the Inuzuka area – he spends enough time "dissuading" Kiba from his fervent pursuit of Hinata, after all. However, he had made the mistake of meeting Shikamaru and Sakura for dinner on the same Friday that the game night was being held, and, ignoring his protests, both of them had dragged him over to join the party.

Sakura and Shikamaru had assured him that it _wouldn't be that bad,_ and that _it would do him some good to get out and socialize more._ Merely passable logic, at best, and he would never have succumbed to such faulty reasoning if it hadn't been for the fact that Shikamaru had him in a shadow bind and was guiding his limbs along with ease, and Sakura wasn't following along behind them, hand curled into a decidedly menacing fist.

Honestly. They acted like he was a completely backward, antisocial disgrace to human society. Which he really _isn't._ If only people would listen.

"This is your idea of entertainment?" Neji asks, leveling a disdainful glance at Kiba.

Kiba gives him a toothy and entirely inappropriate grin. "Sakura _did_ lose the card game miserably, after all. This is the penalty."

Neji opens his mouth, a sharp retort ready, but Sakura interrupts him, smirking at Kiba. "Honestly," she purrs, reaching out and wrapping one arm around Neji's shoulders and the other around Shikamaru's. "I'd take these two over paying you twenty ryou _and _going on a date, any day."

Ino punches the air gleefully, as the rest of their companions look on, avidly interested in the interaction. "Oooh, burn!"

Kiba colors and crosses his arms, sticking his nose in the air. "_Prove_ it."

Before Neji can do anything to protest, Sakura pulls him and Shikamaru in close - narrowly avoiding knocking their skulls together painfully – and proceeds to give the rest of the Konoha Eleven something to talk about.

It is a pretty damn awesome kiss, Neji has to admit, but a considerable part of his enjoyment is muted by the subsequent, unmistakable blinding flash of a camera going off, followed by Naruto crowing gleefully that this picture will make delightful Christmas greeting cards.

"Naruto, you – "

Sakura watches, resigned, as Neji tears himself away from their embrace to start chasing a giggling Naruto and the offending camera around the room. "Think that this worked?" she asks Shikamaru.

Shikamaru nods, then yawns. "He _does_ look happy."

"…He's trying to kill my best friend."

"Which is when he's at his happiest."

Sakura considers this. "True."

"Should we do this more often?" asks Shikamaru, as he watches Neji throw a nearby Christmas tree across the living room, said tree almost poleaxing Chouji, Lee, and Tenten.

Sakura laughs. "Yes. It'll be fun."

-

_fourteen: memory; photograph_

Neji and Shikamaru have resigned themselves to the fact that Sakura is a compulsive taker of pictures. She sees every aspect of life as a potential photo op – Shikamaru cannot count the amount of times they have simply been eating ice cream at the store, when she suddenly whips out her camera, crams them together at record speed, and takes a picture, just for kicks.

For the life of him, Neji cannot understand why Sakura is so hung up on it. Said impromptu pictures usually range from looking somewhat odd to downright freakish. He is usually squashed in the middle, looking pained at the sudden collision of Shikamaru and Sakura's heads against his own, while Shikamaru looks confused on his right, ice cream on his nose, and Sakura beams enthusiastically up at the camera on the other side of him. Somehow, she is the only one who manages to come out of these pictures looking good.

Sakura has countless picture albums in her closet – pages and pages are devoted to photographs of herself and Ino, ranging from early childhood to last week, making silly poses in the dressing room of a nearby store, trying on evening gowns far too expensive for either one of them to afford. There are several solely reserved for Naruto's antics, like that one time when he had lost a bet to Kiba, and had to go through one whole day wearing a garish pink and purple jumpsuit.

Neji and Shikamaru don't know that she has every single one of the pictures she's taken of the three of them together stored in a small, somewhat-worn looking dark blue album with golden embroidery. They are immortalized within these pictures, going on their first date, eating ice cream for the second, fourth, and twelfth times, Neji and Shikamaru wearing aprons and looking murderous, and even a snapshot of the destruction they had wreaked during their reenactment of the Great Shinobi War, among a multitude of others.

Sakura will never tell them the reason behind her complex, partly because she doesn't even like to admit to it herself. But if the three of them are separated from one another, for whatever reason, she will always have the memories stored within this little album, to be treasured forever.

-

_fifteen: take a hint_

Neji would rather be _anywhere_ but here.

Here. Sitting around Sakura's mother's kitchen table with Shikamaru at one side of him, Sakura on the other, and Mrs. Haruno on the opposite side of the table.

"You know Neji and Shikamaru," Sakura says evenly, sounding very composed. The hours that she had spent in front of the mirror rehearsing this are showing. Now, she inhales, exhales, and slips one of her arms through Neji's and the other through Shikamaru's. "Recently, they've both become…very important…people in my life."

Mrs. Haruno gives them a blank look.

"Very, um, _special,_" Sakura elaborates. "Special in many different ways. The three of us are, uh, extremely close."

Neji is sure that Mrs. Haruno is a very sweet elderly woman who had surely been an excellent mother to Sakura. That knowledge, however, is not enough to stop him from wanting to bang his head against the table when the usual look of oh-my-god-I-get-what-you're-talking-about-now does _not_ slide across her face. Next to him, Shikamaru looks somewhat pained.

Sakura's nerves have had enough. "Mom!" she shrieks, grabbing Neji and Shikamaru's hands under the table and then pulling them up into her mother's range of vision. "Take a hint already!"

Mrs. Haruno smiles. "Oh, dear, why didn't you just say so? That's lovely. Such handsome boys."

Shikamaru sighs. Neji rubs his head, feeling a headache coming on. Sakura deflates visibly. "Oh, Mom…" Her voice is caught between exasperation and affection.

Later, as they are leaving the Haruno household, Shikamaru stretches. "That was easy," he says.

"Sure, positively easy. A party. With cake," Sakura grumbles good-naturedly.

"Laugh while you two still can," Neji tells them grimly. "My uncle's next."

Sakura and Shikamaru pale.

Neji smirks. "Why do you two look so scared? It'll be a party. With cake."

-

_sixteen: on top_

If there's a low point to being one of three very intense, intelligent people in one relationship, it's that heated debates do not usually bode well for any of the parties involved. If two of them are "debating" (or, what any sane person calls _yelling,_ simply using intellectual vocabulary and logic interspersed with the usual insults), the third person (usually Neji) walks into the bedroom and locks the other two out until they agree to play nice again.

However, things get a bit more complex when all three are involved. Shikamaru may be the laziest individual this side of the Fire Country, but when roused, he is extremely stubborn, and usually refuses to back down until all other parties have seen the wisdom of his point of view. Neji is completely ruthless to the opposition, and takes joy in brutally slaying all of their points before pointing out his strategy for victory. Sakura just gets…intimidating, and frankly, _scary._

There's a reason why they try to avoid debating about anything with the potential to get too heated. The three of them have been hailed as the brightest of their generation – so, naturally, when they turn on each other and fight to see who can come out on top, they end up losing sleep, staying up all night talking, consuming too much coffee, and one of them usually ends up breaking something before the entire process is over.

It's really a pity that, between them, a discussion about the merits of sweet and sour chicken versus teriyaki can get nasty. There was one memorable time when Sakura and Shikamaru teamed up against Neji, defending the merits of sweet and sour, and forced the repulsed Hyuuga to eat three whole pieces out of the bucket.

The neighbors had become thoroughly fed up with the chant of, "EAT IT!" halfway through Neji's second piece. A complaint to the awake and ever-irritable landlord ensues subsequently.

And then Neji, Sakura, and Shikamaru end up evicted.

Again.

So they're sitting on the sidewalk at ten-thirty at night, disconsolately clutching all their earthly possessions and the bucket of sweet and sour chicken, which Neji keeps shooting baleful glares at.

"Something tells me we have got to stop doing this," Sakura sighs, looking into the depths of the chicken bucket.

"Yeah, we've got no place to kiss, have sex, and make up now," adds Shikamaru, a gloomy expression on his face. In response to the withering stare Sakura gives him, he looks toward Neji helplessly. "Am I right?"

Silence.

Shikamaru elbows Neji in the ribs.

Neji turns away and looks as dignified as a man sitting on the sidewalk can look. "I am not speaking to you."

"But…_why_?"

"You two got us evicted. _And_ you made me eat the stupid chicken."

"I knew it was about the chicken," Sakura says, throwing her hands up in the air.

"That aside…where are we going to go?" Neji asks the nearby light post, studiously avoiding looking at the other two.

Shikamaru considers. "We could always sleep in front of Hokage Tower," he tells the mailbox. "We'd be awoken by Tsunade's smiling face first thing in the morning, too."

The three of them take a moment to process this thought, and then shudder simultaneously.

"We'll live through it," Sakura assures at last, getting up and holding her hands out to Neji and Shikamaru, helping them up. "It's not like she didn't do worse in her day."

Neji snorts as they begin to make their way toward the tower. "I can't imagine anything worse than getting evicted out of three consecutive apartments. In less than one year."

Sakura takes a moment to consider this. "No, but she and Jiraiya had sex on her grandfather's desk while he was out to dinner once. Or…twice. Or three times. I can't remember."

Sakura walks another few paces before she realizes that she is alone. Neji and Shikamaru are where she left them, looking pale and considerably nauseous.

"Disgusting." Neji says with emotion.

"Nauseating." Shikamaru adds, shaking his head.

"Any more gems of wisdom?" Sakura asks humorously.

They shake their heads, before adding in unison. "…Ew."

Sakura laughs. "I have to say, this is the strangest end to any one of our debates. We're currently homeless, on the streets of Konoha at night, discussing our Hokage's sex life."

"Just a day in the glamorous life of the genii," Shikamaru says dryly, eating a piece of chicken.

"Don't forget the chicken."

"As if we could forget the chicken."

Neji glares.

-

_seventeen: garden vista_

The day after this memorable eviction, Tsunade does what she should have done quite a while ago. First, she yells at them for being idiots. ("Any sane shinobi should know that forced ingestion events should be done _only_ at bars! _Only_! Sakura, after all our lessons, I'm especially disappointed in you!" Sakura hangs her head and has the courtesy to blush crimson.) Then, she kicks them out of her office.

Then, she opens a catalog kept in her drawer, and begins to search.

Now, nearly ten hours later after these events, Neji, Sakura, and Shikamaru have been blindfolded, gagged, and had their wrists locked behind their backs with a sealing jutsu, as an armed guard – including Genma, Kakashi, and Yamato, who are all trying hard not to snigger – escorts them through the empty streets of Konoha. Tsunade leads the odd-looking party, still lecturing the three of them about being more discreet.

After at least ten minutes of walking, Tsunade orders the party to come to a halt, single file.

Frankly, when the blindfold and gags are removed, Shikamaru rather expects to come face-to-face with an elaborate torture device intended to punish the three of them for being bad Konoha shinobi. What he doesn't expect to see is…

"A house?" Even Neji can't keep the incredulity out of his voice.

Sakura blinks to make sure she isn't hallucinating. Yes, it is indeed…a house. A small house, but large enough to comfortably accommodate three people. A house with a white picket fence and a pretty, well-kept garden.

Neji, Sakura, and Shikamaru blink.

Tsunade sighs. "It's made of solid concrete, so Sakura won't be able to punch through it unless she really, _really_ wants to. The walls are relatively soundproof, so the neighbors won't be bothered by your eccentricities. Either way, they aren't even close enough to hear. The bathtub is big enough so that the three of you won't flood it. And it's already well furnished, so that I don't have to inflict the horrors of the three of you furniture shopping on any merchants in the Fire Country. There's a pretty garden to keep you three entertained so that instead of staging shinobi wars, you can water flowers. It's completely idiot-proof."

"I love you, shisou," Sakura declares emotionally. Neji and Shikamaru nod fervently in the background.

Tsunade waves her hand, looking somewhat mollified. "Yes, yes. Enjoy it, you three. Now just give me some _peace._"

With that, the Godaime Hokage lifts her hand, and the armed squad disappears with a word, as does she, leaving the stunned new homeowners in front of their new house.

"Think it really is soundproof?" Shikamaru voices at last, looking up at the house in wonder.

"Do you think she got an extra soft king size bed?" Neji wonders, tilting his head.

Sakura smirks mischievously. "I'm sure she wouldn't want us to wait to find out."

As she grabs their hands and pulls them up the steps to _their_ new house, Sakura reminds herself to bake something delicious – preferably tiramisu soaked in sake - to thank Tsunade for being so amazing.

Tomorrow morning.

-

_eighteen: disheveled; in the rain; thunder_

They have been on their feet for seventeen hours straight, are operating on less than four hours of disturbed sleep, and with very little in terms of nutrition powering them. This is hardly an ideal situation even under the (comparative) best of circumstances, but, well, Sakura is trying to come up with reasons why things could have been worse.

So far, she's failing. The _only_ pro to this situation is the sheer delightfulness of her company.

"I feel like I've just eaten a hallucinatory mushroom," groans Neji, his eyes bloodshot, as he staggers over and narrowly avoids tripping on a protruding tree root.

"This…is…so…freaking…troublesome…" Shikamaru manages as he presses on, head ducked against the onslaught of rain and wind.

"Shikamaru…if I die…I am passing the ownership of my side plot in the Hyuuga gardens to you."

"Why would I want a freaking garden, Hyuuga? The stupid mushrooms are what got us into this stupid situation in the first place."

Sakura blinks, and draws her arm wearily across her eyes; wiping away the flecks of rain and mud as yet another boom of thunder crashes above them. "I think we're all losing our sanity."

"This is a rather undignified way to go," sighs Neji.

"I hate our propensity for attracting freak storms," Shikamaru mutters darkly.

Sakura, ignoring the throbbing pain in every muscle from the knee down, as well as her neck and back, looks up to see a flash of lightning cutting through the dark sky. She stops dead. "Guys, we're walking _toward_ the lightning's current path."

"The usual reserves of my intellect seem to have abandoned me, but instinct tells me that we shouldn't be doing that," Neji says dryly – or as dryly as a sopping wet shinobi can manage, anyway.

Shikamaru directs a longing look toward the base of a somewhat drier-looking-and-not-nearly-tall-enough-to-attract-lightning tree. "Maybe we should stop there and wait things out."

Sakura opens her mouth, and almost suggests that the most reasonable thing to do would be to start heading in the opposite direction – the way that they had just come from – in order to escape the lightning, and hopefully be reunited with the rest of their team. Then her muscles choose to remind her that they have been walking, running, and using chakra for far too long to be remotely healthy, and she exhales, her shoulders slumping and the rain making tracks down her face. "Hopefully that should work."

Without further argument, the trio settles themselves at the base of said tree, using the thick outer jacket of Neji's robes to shield themselves from the worst of the mud. They are still freezing and cold, now every muscle below Sakura's _hips_ is hurting mercilessly, Neji still feels kind of like he is hallucinating this entire experience, and frankly, Shikamaru thinks that the situation has only decreased two irritation points.

Sakura closes her eyes and lets her head fall against Neji's shoulder, not really caring about mission propriety at this point, and Shikamaru follows her lead, leaning against her and closing his eyes, his breath escaping his body in a long, tired sigh.

Neji rests his head against the damp tree bark. "At least we're probably having more fun than everybody else," he murmurs, almost to himself, and half-asleep already.

"What was that, Neji?" Sakura yawns.

She doesn't get a response – his fatigue has already caught up with him, and he is snoring lightly, head tilted against the tree.

The rain is still pouring in torrents, the wind threatens to rip a few nearby branches off, and Sakura is fairly sure that she hasn't been in a worse state in several months. Maybe it's the hallucinations kicking in, she muses, as she tucks her head against Neji's shoulder again, feeling the warmth of Shikamaru's body against her side, but she feels much more secure than she ought to.

-

_nineteen: bubbles; stay_

Neji used to find solo missions (which he gets quite a lot of since he was appointed ANBU Captain) a welcome change from the various stresses involved in operating within the customary three-to-four-man cell. He liked working at his own pace, he liked not being held back by anything or anybody besides his own mind, and he liked the freedom that came with making decisions considering only _his_ life, and not putting anybody else's in danger. There was a time when the Hokage assigned him more A- and S-ranked solo missions than any Konoha shinobi save Hatake Kakashi.

As time goes on, however, to his horror, he finds his usual zest and joy for receiving potentially life-threatening, high-stress solo missions, is decreasing. An attribute that he lays sole responsibility for on the shoulders of Shikamaru and Sakura. Damn them – after all, _they_ are the reasons why, upon receiving the mission summons, he doesn't look around discreetly before punching the air in triumph. Instead, he folds the piece of paper and slips it carefully into one of his many pockets, daring to sigh quietly.

He tells them about it after they are finished with dinner. "A month long, recon and subsequent assassination in Mist," he states matter-of-factly, feeding a small piece of fruit to their parakeet, who gobbles it up eagerly. "I leave the day after tomorrow."

"You're going to make the bird get fat," Shikamaru replies, collapsing onto the sofa. "And these solo missions you keep getting assigned to are so damned _troublesome._"

Sakura emerges from the kitchen, drying her hands on a odd-looking purple dishtowel. "For once, I agree with Pineapple Head's sentiments," she says, tempering her words with an affectionate look toward said Pineapple Head, before tilting her head and giving Neji a critical look. "I'm afraid you're going to overwork yourself one of these days."

Neji joins the other two on the sofa, where Shikamaru rests his head on his shoulder and Sakura takes his hand. He takes a moment to enjoy their presence, before exhaling, his breath ruffling Sakura's hair. "I can hardly walk up to the Godaime and refuse this mission purely on the reasoning that I would rather not be separated for so long from the ones that I love."

"True," Shikamaru muses. "Maybe Sakura could break some bones for you?"

Sakura can't help but laugh as she looks at the both of them. "Tsunade would eat all three of us alive."

So that plan is scrapped, and the night before Neji's month-long departure, they indulge in their customary ritual for whenever one of them has whatever reason to leave. Thankfully, this new house has a bathtub large and circular enough to accommodate all three of them – the previous one had been dreadfully lacking, and the three genii had been promptly evicted after they accidentally flooded said bathroom, causing roof leaks for the unfortunate residents of the bottom floors.

Neji closes his eyes and inhales deeply, the soothing scent of lavender oil pervading the steam rising from the hot water. "Shikamaru, you have most excellent taste in the selection of bubble bath," he murmurs.

Shikamaru leans back against him and wiggles his toes experimentally, seeing how many bubbles he can pop with each individual toe movement. "What can I say? It's a gift."

Sakura pauses in the addition of more bubble bath to give them a disdainful glance, and mutter something that sounds suspiciously like, "_Men._"

A comfortable silence falls over them, until finally, Neji breaks it by sighing. "It almost saddens me to think that this is the last moment of relaxation that I am going to experience until this time next month."

Sakura paddles over and settles herself against his chest, closing her eyes sadly, so that Shikamaru can see the miniscule bubbles clinging to her eyelashes. "I wish you could stay," she voices at last.

Shikamaru sighs, doing his best to wrap a comforting arm around Neji and Sakura's shoulders, despite the slippery water. "You speak for all of us."

-

_twenty: take it in your stride; walk _

They find peace walking through the streets of Konoha at night – it has become somewhat of a tradition for them. Sakura has to admit that she loves the people of her village dearly, and the distinct majority of them have been extremely supportive of her slightly unconventional relationship with Neji and Shikamaru. The three genii still receive their due share of staring when they walk down a street together, though, and while Sakura doesn't mind that as much, it makes Neji jumpy and paranoid, and Shikamaru finds parting the crowds of people who mysteriously surround them, craning their necks to catch a glimpse of Konoha's only trio, extremely troublesome.

They never run into any problems of that sort at nighttime. The streets are deserted, the breeze is cool, and the silver light of the moon shines gently down on them as they make their way wherever they want to go, free to hold hands without the scrutiny of random strangers.

They usually end up lingering in one of the various meadows near the genin teams' training areas. Tonight they are in Team Gai's usual haunting grounds, which Shikamaru has always privately considered the most scenic of the lot. There is a small, grassy hill nearby, and it is a simple matter for them to scale the elevation and lie in a triangle, heads almost touching, hair mingling in the center in a cloud of pink, dark brown, and black.

After a while of lying in peaceful silence, Sakura reaches out and twines her delicate fingers in Neji and Shikamaru's. Their hands are cool to the touch, and she sends a soft blanket of heated chakra to each one. "Better?" she asks.

Neji's eyes drift closed as he looks up at the moonlit sky. "Always."

"Couldn't ask for more," Shikamaru adds.

Sakura smiles, because they aren't talking about cold hands anymore, and they all know it.

¤

Reviews appreciated!

My birthday is tomorrow. :)


	8. Theme Set Beta, I

**Note:** Today, an esteemed teacher of mine told me that there is a clear difference between excuses and explanations. Regarding excuses, I have none. In the way of explanations, I have only to offer that being a newly-minted junior in high school with several AP courses is in no way conducive to a good writing environment.

Despite the extreme lateness of this offering, I hope that you, my friends, will all enjoy it. :)

-

**Walking**

Sakura enjoys sedate walks in the park in winter, after the first snow has begun to fall; when she attempts to introduce Neji and Shikamaru into these simpler joys in life, they give her blank looks. They manage to behave themselves halfway through the park, then, when she turns her back on them for _one second_ to adjust her scarf, the two of them manage to begin a full-fledged snowball fight.

Actually, it's Shikamaru who throws the first snowball. Neji dodges it with ease, before claiming disdainfully that Hyuugas do not engage in juvenile wintertime activities such as snowball fights. Shikamaru gives him an unimpressed look, before pelting another snowball at him. This one collides squarely with Neji's head.

There are a few moments of silence, and then Sakura ceases tugging at her scarf upon hearing Shika's holler of protest, before turning around incredulously, wondering as to how her two favorite shinobi could manage to transform even a pleasant and serene walk into a life-and-death situation.

In reflection, Shikamaru thinks that maybe he shouldn't have thrown that first shot, after all. But anyway, both he and Neji are in very incriminating positions – Neji, caught in the act of forming another snowball, with murderous intent clearly written all over his face, and…well, so what if he's lying facedown in the snow, his hands flung over his head as he shamelessly pleads for mercy? Hopefully he looks enough like a victim to get a reprieve from their _beloved_ Sakura…

"What on earth," she says, in a tone of deceptive calmness, "are you two doing?"

Appropriately enough, Neji and Shikamaru wince in unison, expecting a verbal chastisement of the highest order.

Instead, they receive two massive snowballs to the face for their efforts. Naturally, this results in the complete abandonment of the idea of a sedate walk in the park, in favor of a complete, all-out snowball war.

After a few hours, Sakura, predictably enough, comes out as the victor, before the three of them collapse in a heap on top of Neji's defensive wall, thoroughly exhausted.

"Better than walking?" Shikamaru gasps out at last.

"Indeed," Neji echoes, while wringing out ice water from his rather disheveled hair.

Sakura giggles at the sight, before kissing both of them on the cheek. "I never thought I'd say it, but I would have to agree."

**Waltz**

Neji has been trained in classical dancing, and Sakura has some knowledge of it – she and Ino had taken a class once, just for a fun way to spend their Saturday. Shikamaru is completely clueless, so Neji and Sakura take the greatest joy in waltzing around their living room, with Shikamaru sandwiched between them; he complains at length, but not-so-secretly enjoys it, much to all of their amusement.

**Wishes**

It is Neji's birthday and Sakura and Shikamaru proudly present him with a towering, somewhat-wobbly white chocolate cake. Much to his displeasure, before he is allowed to attack it – with all the decorum and impeccable table etiquette expected of a Hyuuga, of course – his two significant others hold him down, and demand at great length (and volume) for him to make the obligatory birthday wish before blowing out the twenty-four candles that adorn the cake.

As he is presented with no other option but to do so, Neji performs a few moments of intense introspection, before blowing out the candles in the hopes of finally tasting the very fragrant cake. Instead, Shikamaru and Sakura fall on top of him, loudly demanding to know every little detail of his wish.

"Cease and desist," he orders imperiously. "Besides, it won't come true if I tell you two what it is."

Sakura pouts in a rather appealing fashion. "True…I suppose."

Shikamaru snorts with obvious disbelief, cramming a fork into the cake. "Bullshit, Sakura, he just wants to get to the cake sooner."

The two of them both swivel around and fix Neji with unnecessarily accusing looks.

He raises an eyebrow at them, evidently unruffled. "And if this would be the case?"

Sakura wastes no time in grabbing the heaping fork from Shikamaru, and then stuffing it into Neji's mouth rather violently. "Take that, your almighty Hyuuga-ness!"

Neji chokes, sputters violently, and, after much struggling, manages to swallow the huge amount of cake without undue harm to his digestive system. As there are no satisfactory weapons within arm's range, he disregards the deliciousness of the cake by throwing the fork aside, and burying his hand wrist-deep within the side of the magnificent dessert.

Sakura's eyes widen.

Shikamaru makes a frantic grab for the nearest camera. If this is going to get as troublesome as it has the potential to, he had better take a few photographs for posterity.

He gets a rather charming shot of Sakura, lying on her back on the kitchen table, with a rather demented-looking Neji positioned on top of her, attempting to force-feed her the handful of cake. At this point Shikamaru starts laughing so hard that he drops the camera, anyway, before arming himself with the nearest spray canister of whipped cream – just to help poor Sakura out, of course.

Later that night, he realizes that all of their birthdays inevitably include this sequence of events, with small variations. It is troublesome, to be sure, and the frosting is a pain in the ass to wash out of his hair and clothes, but after all, it is worth it.

**Wonder**

They are lying, curled up close to each other in Sakura's bed, which is slightly too small for them. She sighs contentedly, nuzzling against Shika's neck, while Neji's strong, sure fingers trace slight circles on her upper arm. It is hardly a scenario Sakura would have imagined for herself a couple of years ago, but now, she cannot even wonder what life could have been like without them; without this.

**Worry**

Neji loves both Shikamaru and Sakura dearly, but, admittedly, there are a few excruciatingly difficult parts about having a relationship like theirs. One of these, Neji reflects, sitting alone in the living room of their home, with his head in his hands as he looks at the clock, once, twice, again – is that he does not have one person to devote all of his worry to, but two.

**Whimsy**

Most people know Shikamaru as a person of astonishing pragmatism; Neji and Sakura, who lie on the roof of their house and watch clouds with him for hours together, know that he, like all of them, is also prone to occasional flights of dizzying, astonishingly creative imagination.

**Waste/Wasteland**

The battleground has been reduced to nothing more than scorched earth, and Neji pulls himself up painfully from his knees; his katana extricates itself from the lifeless body of the enemy-nin with a sickening sound, and he is suddenly overcome with longing for Sakura's comforting arms, and the soothing murmur of Shikamaru's voice.

**Whiskey & Rum**

When the mood strikes them, Shikamaru and Sakura can both be rather profligate drinkers. Neji despairs initially, for the sake of their health – and because sometimes, it can be a little bit too hard _not_ to take advantage of their inebriated states.

**War**

The war that washes over Konoha and nearly obliterates it is the darkest part of their lives – all three of them are secretly surprised that they survived it. Every night, Sakura lights an incense stick in silent thanks; if one of them had been lost, during those horrible times, it would have completely destroyed the two unfortunate enough to be left behind.

**Weddings**

Sakura watches her kunoichi friends get married, one by one – Tenten to Lee, Hinata to Naruto, and Ino to Kiba, inexplicably enough; sometimes she visits the bridal stores and touches the long, ivory dresses, an almost wistful expression clouding her eyes.

**Birthday**

Shikamaru does not like anybody making a fuss of his birthday, and it is partly because of this that, during the first birthday that he celebrates during their newly official…relationship…Neji and Sakura pretend to acknowledge his wishes, but secretly go out of their way to make it An Event – there is a cake, Sakura decorates their house from top to bottom, and Neji arranges for Shikamaru to be detained on his way back from work.

When Shikamaru staggers into their house at last, his clothes in tatters after being set upon by a veritable horde of Akamaru's puppies, and sees everything, he almost cries.

That is before Neji shuffles out from the bedroom, wearing a purple and conical party hat, presents him with the cake, and sings the Happy Birthday song while a beaming Sakura takes pictures.

Then, Shikamaru actually cries. Well, to be accurate, one tear escapes from the inner corner of his right eye. Just one. He isn't quite sure why – probably a combination of sheer terror upon seeing Neji in a party hat, complete horror at Neji's singing monotone, or feeling suddenly overcome with affection for the two, admittedly troublesome, individuals he has chosen to share his life with.

Sakura puts the camera aside, and presses a kiss to his cheek. "Aww, Shika, you're getting emotional."

"Am not," he argues weakly, wiping the solitary tear away as subtly as possible. "Troublesome woman."

Neji walks over to them, looking as dignified as he possibly can while wearing a purple party hat, and envelops the two of them in his embrace.

**Blessing**

Hiashi places a shaking hand on his desk; he had been one of the strongest, most capable shinobi of his generation, and is still a force to be reckoned with. Now, however, he cannot seem to think along sensible, coherent lines, and when he tries to focus his gaze on the three apprehensive-looking young people in front of him, it doesn't quite work…

Neji, Sakura, and Shikamaru flinch in unison as Hyuuga Hiashi faints dead away, his head making a solid and rather painful sound as it connects with the solid oak desk.

"How troublesome," Shikamaru says faintly.

Sakura gives the clan leader a rather unsettled look. "We can definitely interpret that as his blessing…either that, or we've gone and given him a coronary."

In the privacy of the enclosed office, Neji smacks his hand against his forehead.

**Bias**

As ANBU Captain, Neji has the freedom to pick the remaining two members of his three-man cell; he is glad for the impassive exterior of his mask, as he fills in _Nara Shikamaru_ and _Haruno Sakura_ on the form provided, in his neat handwriting, before arranging to have the respective summons sent to Hokage Tower.

**Burning**

Sakura works late that night, and comes home to find a spectacular tableau of destruction in the kitchen. After sitting Neji and Shikamaru down for a stern talk, she folds her arms across her chest, glaring down at the two apprehensive-looking men. A sorry-looking and scorched pot, filled with a mysterious-looking, and smoking, liquid has been placed between them. "How on earth," she announces in an expansive tone, "do two certified genii proceed to _burn soup_?"

**Breathing**

They engage in three-way spars quite often; it is always intense, explosive combat, and in the end, the three of them end up lying under a tree, with various tenketsu blocked or bleeding from senbon wounds or sporting an extensive amount fist-sized bruises, while gasping for breath, with the sound echoing in the still autumn air.

**Breaking**

On one of their A-ranked missions, Shikamaru breaks his ankle, thanks to one misstep – his feet tangle in a bird's nest, and it is a painful fall to the ground below. The break is a clean snap; one that Sakura is able to heal rather well, but the bone is too weak in the immediate aftermath of the healing for him to support his weight on it. Neji and Sakura take one of his arms over each one of their shoulders, and carry him all the way back home.

**Belief**

The night after her jounin exams, Sakura sits at the bar, drowning shot after shot of hard liquor. Her eyes are bloodshot and her fingers shake so violently that the clear, amber liquid spills out of the tiny glass. "Oh, god," she fairly whimpers, running her fingers through her hair, so that it stands on end, before turning on Neji. "_Why_ is the judging period three days long?"

He confiscates the glass, before patting her on the shoulder a bit awkwardly. Shikamaru, who is seated on the other side of her, sighs deeply, as if he has resigned himself to a horrible fate, before pulling Sakura into a rough, one-armed hug. "Relax," he drawls in a tone of deceptive calmness, sending Neji a _help-me_ look. "They would be freakin' _insane_ not to accept you."

The older shinobi has no choice but to acquiesce, and he slides into the stool on the other side of Sakura and places one of his hands over her own, which are bandaged from the wounds that had been inflicted during the grueling combat rounds. "You _will_ pass," he states, as if it is a bygone conclusion.

Sakura exhales, letting out a breath she didn't even know she had been holding, and buries her head into one of their shoulders – she isn't sure which one, at this point.

"Sorry," she says, at last, her voice muffled against what she now realizes is Shikamaru's flak jacket.

She feels a hand on her back, warm and slightly uncertain. "It is quite alright."

Shikamaru adjusts his position a little, so that he can reach around a little further and drag Neji into the group hug as well. "Yeah. After all, that's what friends are for."

**Balcony**

Their new house has a balcony at the very back; on the more pleasant evenings, Sakura curls up on the cushions, perusing the latest medical findings as the light breeze stirs her hair, while Neji sits cross-legged on the floor, lost in contemplation.

Continuing her tradition of giving him the most frivolous gifts in existence, on Shikamaru's last birthday, Ino had gifted him with a guitar. It had gathered dust for the better part of a year, before he had finally unearthed it one day, during the throes of a particularly violent fit of boredom.

He is by no means an expert, although his natural intelligence allows him to learn quickly. Within a few weeks, their balcony relaxation routine is disrupted – Neji ceases meditation every now and again to mumble a request, and after a few more weeks, he is skillful enough so that Sakura does not throw her scrolls at his head in protest to his musical endeavors.

**Bane**

One of the ever-expanding List of Odd Things That Sakura and Shikamaru Now Know about Neji is that the usually stoic ANBU Captain has a shocking fondness for horror movies. Shikamaru actually chokes on his martini when Neji reveals that every Wednesday night – in which he may retire from work early in order to attend to official Hyuuga business of state – in actuality, Hinata, Hanabi, Hiashi, and Neji all pile into an abandoned training room, gather around a small television set with blankets and popcorn, and scare themselves silly over the frightening movie of the week.

"That is just ridiculous," Shikamaru coughs, after Sakura extracts the offending olive from his throat. "That is sick and ludicrous. Hyuugas are not supposed to have _family fun nights._ I was always under the impression that such juvenile nonsense was restricted solely to the 'lesser' clans, you know, like the Inuzuka and the Aburame."

Neji sighs almost imperceptibly, flicking his hair over his shoulder in a gesture of resigned annoyance. "And that, precisely, is why we do not tell people. In any case," he pulls out the battered video tape from one of his numerous pockets, "Hanabi allowed me to borrow _Wolfsbane. _I gather that she and her genin team watched it the other night and found it quite engaging. Well," he says as an afterthought, "if the fact that they were screaming and sobbing, alternately, for the entire duration of the film was any indication."

Sakura shrinks away from him as if he has contracted a highly infectious disease. "Neji," she squeaks. "You know how I feel about scary movies."

"Yes, I recall Tenten informing me once that during one of your…sleepovers…she purchased one, and after viewing said movie, you insisted on having all the lights on for the entirety of the night."

Sakura blushes bright red, and Shikamaru gives her an incredulous look. "Is that so?" he deadpans, before flopping back down on the couch and reclining comfortably. "In that case, Hyuuga, let's watch."

Neji smirks as he rises and walks toward the TV, flicking all the lights off as he goes; meanwhile, Sakura acquires a large cushion, and tries to appear as if she is not hiding behind it. Shikamaru can't hide his evil grin as Neji returns, the old tape flickering into life, and they both place an arm over Sakura's shoulders. "Neji, darling, regarding making this a tradition," Shikamaru murmurs. "Your esteemed family may have the right idea."

Sakura shudders deeply.

**Quiet**

The three of them may have the most scintillatingly intellectual conversations in the entire village, and could probably best even Jiraiya's highest expectations when it comes to charged banter, filled to the brim with sexual tension – still, after they have worn themselves out after hours of talking, and curl up together on the floor, with Sakura and Shikamaru nestled securely against Neji's shoulders, the complete peace is wholly satisfying.

**Quirks**

It is quite by accident that Neji and Sakura discover that, even though Shikamaru cannot waltz to save his life, he is quite skilled at ballet. He does not disclose this by choice; rather, the two of them walk in on him pirouetting through the living room with such grace that they both stop dead in the doorway, convinced that this is some sort of delusion brought on by the dubious quality of last night's ramen.

When Shikamaru finally notices them, he is so shocked that he leaps right into a lamp.

("Ino was too shy to go by herself," he explains to them later, grumpily. "And Chouji didn't like the outfits. Damn it, it wasn't _my_ fault that I took to it more than Ino did!"

**Question**

Neji had always taken his heterosexuality as a matter of fact, and, therefore, is not unduly surprised by his slowly but steadily growing attraction to Sakura. However, noticing Shikamaru's height, and grace, despite the slouch he normally forces his body into; the subtle set of his strong shoulders underneath the dark green turtleneck and flak vest, and the surprising delicacy of his unusually long, thin fingers – well, _that_ is another matter entirely.

**Quitting**

Sometimes, when Shikamaru is buried up to his eyeballs in paperwork, and all the tactics and plans and treaties blur into one, confused mess in his head, he closes his eyes, and thinks about how wonderful it would be to leave it all behind.

Sakura admits to entertaining the same thoughts on occasion – but only on the rare times when a patient is beyond earthly help, and she can do nothing but curl up at her desk, and watch, helplessly, as the teardrops spill into her cold cup of coffee.

Neji does not ever think in this manner. Ever. Shinobi duty and honor are in his bloodline, traced back as far as time itself, and even when he is bone-weary and the veins around his eyes throb from excessive use, he remembers his father, and presses on.

Once, Shikamaru voices this sentiment, when it is dark, and they sit on their balcony; the guitar has been set aside in favor of a large, fleece blanket, which they all huddle under.

Sakura looks up at the sky, and Neji can see the reflection of the stars flickering in her eyes. "I consider it sometimes." She bites her lip pensively. "It's a bit perverse, I know, and sometimes I wish things could be different – but, honestly…"

"You can't imagine living your life any other way," Neji and Shikamaru complete in unison, before directing amused, yet not completely surprised, glances at the other.

Sakura smiles up at them. "Of course."

* * *

An update will be coming within the next two weeks, or, by the time of November 5th, 2008. I swear it on my honor as a shipper, and if it does not happen, I will eat my shoes. D:

Feedback (or a lengthy diatribe decrying the lateness of this installment and how the author should be beaten with a burning baby) would be very much appreciated.


	9. Theme Set Beta, II

**Note:** Thank you so much to everyone who was kind enough to leave feedback! And…my shoes tasted really bad. :( Oh, and just for reference, the ones after "Natural," are flashbacks.

-

**Jump**

It is the dead of night, and _cold_, too, but Sakura is patrolling the tops of Konoha's gates – she is dressed head to toe in black. Save for the vibrancy of her hair, she blends into the dark flawlessly, watching, waiting, and armed to the teeth; a nasty surprise for any Akatsuki who think that they could breach the barriers of the village, to be sure.

It is a noble duty, and one that must be done, but the kunoichi cannot stifle a wistful sigh. Her breath pools in the chilled air, and turns silver.

The touch at her shoulder is so light it could be a phantom, and it comes out of nowhere. Her nerves are at a heightened state of anxiety already, and Sakura spins around, a kunai already in her hand.

Shikamaru raises an eyebrow lazily. "Made you jump."

Sakura's mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water. "You did not!" she retorts defensively. "What the hell are you doing out here, anyway? You had duty last night."

"Ah, I decided that this whole night patrol thing is too troublesome to do on one's own." Shikamaru drawls, while surreptitiously scanning the surrounding area.

Sakura follows his gaze, suspicious. True enough, within a moment, Neji materializes into being a few feet away from them, somehow managing to balance three full mugs of steaming hot chocolate.

Shikamaru smirks in a rather satisfied fashion. "Took you long enough."

"Yes, well," the Hyuuga replies, pressing one mug into his hands, and another into Sakura's. "Hanabi had hidden the marshmallows in her room."

Sakura stares at her two friends incredulously, even as she feels the warmth of the hot chocolate penetrate her gloves. "Are you two _crazy_?"

"The word, my dear," Shikamaru corrects, his eyes glinting mischievously. "Is _genii._ Not…crazy."

Neji coughs, to hide his amusement, as resignation battles with Sakura's features, and finally wins out. "Okay," she says grudgingly. "But don't blame me if you two get frostbite."

"Honestly, Sakura," Neji deadpans. "We may not be medic-nin, but I am fairly sure that the three of us will be able to combat frostbite."

"I wonder how," Shikamaru mutters.

Despite the cold and the sheer impracticality of it all, Sakura cannot help but smile at them as she holds her mug out. "Cheers."

**Jester**

The first time Sakura and Shikamaru hear Neji laugh, _really _laugh, not some kind of twisted smirk of pleasure at seeing an enemy writhe in pain, Shikamaru pounces on Neji in an attempt to perform the Heimlich Maneuver, while Sakura panics and fears that she's killed the best shinobi of their generation.

"Honestly," Neji says irritably, once he has thrown Shikamaru off him, and convinced Sakura that he is, indeed, not dying a painful death. "I just found the story about Gai-sensei and the troupe of singing parrots amusing."

"Oh," Shikamaru and Sakura chorus meekly.

"We thought," Shikamaru attempts to explain, "that you were dying. Or some such troublesome thing."

Neji sighs almost imperceptibly. "Lee and Tenten reacted the same way the first time I expressed outward amusement in front of them."

"You know what that means?" Sakura says, offering him a sickeningly saccharine smile. "It means you should laugh more often!"

There is a heartbeat of silence as the three of them regard each other, and then, Shikamaru and Sakura are the ones to fall over laughing, while Neji continues to sip his vitamin water, feeling faintly miffed.

**Jousting**

Hate Kakashi raises one eyebrow, very slightly, over his visible eye, as he regards the two shinobi standing in front of him. "Give me one reason," he says mildly, "why I shouldn't kill both of you where you stand."

Shikamaru swallows – how troublesome is _this?_ – but Neji attempts to answer the question in a satisfactory manner. "Because Sakura loves us very much," he says stoically. "And if you killed us, she would be very upset. I daresay she would cry. A great deal. Would you like that on your conscience?"

Kakashi, who has killed hundreds of enemy shinobi without so much as blinking an eye, flinches at the very thought of his precious only female student crying because of him. "…A decent point, I'll give you that. But I do not appreciate your mind games, Hyuuga."

It is Neji's turn to swallow, as the infamous Copy-nin gives him a decidedly fish-eyed look.

When Sakura comes to know that her beloved sensei, who is one of the five most important men in her life, disapproves of two of the other most important men in her life, she is hardly pleased. "Kakashi-sensei, _why_?" she implores. "You liked them well enough before – well, you know."

Kakashi turns another page in his book, unconcerned. "Nonsense, Sakura. I never liked them at all; since the moment I first saw them at the chunin exams, as a matter of fact."

Sakura nearly facefaults. "Sensei! That was…eleven _years_ ago! They've changed a lot since then, and they were never really _that_ bad to begin with!"

Kakashi puts the book down and gives her a Look.

"Okay, fine," Sakura admits with a sigh. "They were pretty bad. But they _have_ changed a lot."

"Uh-huh," Kakashi scoffs, before returning to his happy, simple Icha Icha world, where precious female students didn't suddenly decide to engage in relationships with not one, but _two_ of the most renowned shinobi around.

Sakura storms off in a huff at this point, but her relentless campaign to reconcile Neji, Shikamaru, and her sensei has already begun.

Predictably enough, it is a slow, painful process. Neji finds it depressing, Shikamaru nearly cries with how troublesome he finds it, and Kakashi considers quitting the village and becoming a missing-nin.

It takes fifty mandated games of Monopoly, Scrabble, and Pictionary for Kakashi to become accustomed to – and, perhaps, grudgingly fond of – Neji and Shikamaru. At this point, Sakura is content, and game nights are no longer mandatory.

But still, despite the pressing demands of all three of their careers, Neji, Shikamaru, and Kakashi all find time to meet every Thursday night and play board games together. It is the beginning of a beautiful and slightly scary friendship, and as Sakura cannot help but feel proud that she is the one who had triggered all of it.

**Jewel**

Neji is, essentially, a frugal person, who is perfectly capable of living life with only the barest and simplest of luxuries. One such luxury is an ivory comb with pearls inlaid into the handle. It had been a gift from his aunt upon his birth, who hadn't quite comprehended the fact that Neji was, indeed, a boy.

The first time Sakura and Shikamaru come upon it, they are invading Neji's room against his will, under the guise of paying him a simple visit to see how he is recovering after his latest mission-related injury. The visit had been unannounced, so when they storm in, loudly and cheerfully, the comb is lying, very conspicuously, on his otherwise bare dresser.

Neji tries his best to occupy their unwavering attention, but it isn't long before Sakura decides she wants to look around. The Hyuuga prodigy closes his eyes—one, two, three—

"Oh my god, Neji!" she squeals, predictably enough. When he opens his eyes, he finds her brandishing his beloved hair care product, an adoring expression in her eyes. "This is so _beautiful_!"

Shikamaru ceases his anecdote about Lee and the kittens long enough to look up; he fixes a reluctantly admiring look on the comb. "Yeah, it's nice." He pauses for a moment, and Neji can almost see the cogs turning in his head. "…But why did Hinata leave her comb in here?"

"It, ah…" Neji is tempted to fake a coughing fit to play to Sakura's sympathies; therefore making the two of them forget about the comb. However, his sense of base integrity comes into play, rather inconveniently. He clears his throat, feeling somewhat abashed. "It does not belong to Hinata."

It takes a few moments for this to register. When it does, Sakura doubles over in a giggling fit, and a small and truly evil smile spreads over Shikamaru's face.

Neji knows that he is helpless, in bed, with seven ribs that are currently on the mend, but he manages to summon up his most fearsome glare as he regards his two favorite genii. "This goes nowhere."

"Sure," Sakura says, wiping her eyes. "But only if –"

" – You show us the matching bows and ribbons," Shikamaru interrupts wickedly.

This is enough to make Sakura dissolve in laughter again, and Neji buries his head in the pillow with a groan, bidding a sad farewell to his dignity.

**Just**

"Why?" Neji asks plaintively.

Shikamaru just fidgets, keeping his eyes downcast as he mutters about how unjust and damn troublesome all of it is.

Sakura smirks, takes a step back, and takes a quick picture of Neji and Shikamaru, in their matching "Kiss The Cook" aprons. "After all, it's only fair."

**Smirk**

Sakura is dismayed when she finds out that both of her boys are true, incorrigible…smirkers. For the life of her, she cannot find a way to shake them out of the detestable habit. It has always been a habit that she's hated, ever since she woke up one day, and realized that she was never going to see Sasuke's smirk, greeting her and Naruto in the morning, ever again.

"Smile!" she yells, once, brandishing a photograph of a cute, fluffy puppy in front of them. "That's all I'm asking! Just one, normal, smile!"

Neji and Shikamaru stare at the puppy impassively, before their eyes meet; in unison, both of them smirk, amused, at their girlfriend's ill-conceived scheme.

Sakura throws the picture down in a fit of temper, snarls, stomps on it, whirls around, and storms away.

Once she is out of sight, Shikamaru is the first to laugh. "Priceless."

A true, genuine smile touches Neji's face as he lifts the picture of the puppy and dusts it off. "Indeed."

**Sorrow**

Sakura sits on the bridge, and cries until her eyes are swollen and her throat hurts and her heart threatens to burst in two with the sheer, unutterable pain of it. Neji knows where she is, but he has his own wounds to tend, and _Shikamaru_—

A small, despairing sob escapes her lips, and as Sakura wipes the tears away from her cheeks roughly, she cannot help but think that _arranged marriage_ must be the two worst words in the history of language itself.

**Stupidity**

Shikamaru dashes the papers from his desk, sweeping everything off until nothing is left, save for the dark wood. He sits down and buries his head and, here, in privacy, he allows the hot tears to leak, slowly, past his eyelids. They stain the pages and pages of complex calculations and advanced tactical maneuvers and strategies he has drafted, until the ink begins to blur and run together.

The sole framed photograph that had occupied the crowded space lies on the floor, now, a spiderweb crack having formed on the glass that protects it.

It is an uncharacteristic thought, born out of the deepest hurt and bitterness, but Shikamaru thinks that he would trade all of it, all of the calculations and tactics and strategies, if only he could have back the one thing he truly loves.

**Serenade**

It is dark and far too late for him to be out, but Neji feels as if he is bleeding from the inside, and the sounds that the bed of solid limestone makes as he begins shattering it into bits with his fingers and palms does nothing to soothe his pain.

**Sarcasm**

When Shikamaru is upset, really, _truly_ upset, he loses the capability for the biting sarcasm that is his trademark.

After the next mission – after it happens – and Sakura is healing his many wounds, she asks him to remove his shirt, trying her best to keep her tone light, friendly, professional. She expects a retort of some type; when he removes the black mesh shirt without any comment at all, they both pretend that they do not see the single tear that drops onto the examination table.

**Sordid**

"I thought it would be the new kind of love story," Sakura admits to him, once. "Unconventional, yeah, but with the same old…happily ever after ending." She pauses, and under the sparse light granted by the slim crescent moon, he can see her struggling to keep her features straight. "I never thought it would end like this."

Neji squeezes her hand gently, but for something like this, there are no words.

**Soliloquy**

Neji is the first one to reach out to him; after – he is delivering a stack of paperwork from Tsunade-sama, and Shikamaru nods his wordless thanks.

The ANBU Captain almost walks away, but at the last possible second, he turns and looks back. "You know," he says, and his deep voice is unusually uncertain. "Friday nights – we still go out for dango."

He stops abruptly; the air heavy with the weight of the words left unsaid.

It is a short speech, but it is enough, _more_ than enough, and when Shikamaru nods, he can feel a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth – the first, in a long time. "Thank you."

Neji nods, silently, and disappears.

**Sojourn**

Two weeks of carefully friendly dinners pass before Shikamaru has to say it; they will find out soon enough, anyway, and it is better that they hear it from him than through common gossip. "The wedding's in two months."

Neji nods immediately, quiet in his understanding, and Shikamaru is grateful. Sakura is slower in her reply; she blinks twice, but when she reaches out and touches his hand lightly, Shikamaru cannot help but flinch. "You don't have to be alone until then," she says softly.

Before he can stop himself, his fingers curl around hers, and Neji's fingers shake slightly as they brush a stray strand of hair out of Shikamaru's face.

**Share**

That is the last night they spend together. It is as painful as anything, and all of them cry a little, afterward, even though they keep their tears to themselves, wiping them away discreetly on separate corners of Sakura's blanket.

At last, Shikamaru feels the need to say something; for the silence is choking him. "I'll miss—"

Before he can say anything more, Neji's hand is firm, yet gentle, against his mouth. "Don't."

This is as close to a plea as the Hyuuga can get, and Shikamaru recognizes this and falls silent. He nestles against Sakura and feels Neji wrap an arm around his waist, and Shikamaru closes his eyes and tries his very best to commit every little detail to memory.

**Solitary**

For a few months, afterward, they are all in a painfully awkward state of limbo. The nights that Sakura spends, alone, in the cold and dark while patrolling the village borders are even more agonizing, now that she knows what will not await her when she returns to her apartment a few hours later, at dawn.

One night, she turns to a touch on her shoulder, and finds Neji regarding her, his white eyes turned a luminescent shade of ivory under the moonlight. "I could not sleep," he murmurs, by way of explanation.

Sakura laughs, a little bitterly, and the sound echoes a little. "Join the club."

They sit in silence for an hour longer, until it is almost sunrise; until she feels his gloved hand slide over her cold one, and Sakura turns and looks at him sharply.

"You don't have to go through this alone," Neji says quietly.

It is a few moments before she leans into his touch, and together, they watch the sun slowly slip over the horizon.

**Nowhere**

They had made this village exclusively their own, and Shikamaru cannot walk anywhere without being assaulted by the tens of thousands of memories that they had formed, together.

**Neutral**

Tsunade says nothing about it directly, but from that time forward, she ceases assigning Sakura to missions with Shikamaru and Neji. Sakura supposes she should feel a million different things about this, but it hurts too much to feel, nowadays, and when she looks at her new team of Kiba and Shino, she forces a smile.

**Nuance**

Neji notices the way Sakura winces, almost unnoticeably, when she looks at the calendar, but he makes no mention of it.

The following Saturday morning, she shows up at the Hyuuga compound, wearing a long, violet-colored silk Chinese-style dress. Her makeup is impeccable and her hair perfectly styled, but Neji can see the determined set of her jaw; the face of a kunoichi preparing to do battle. "Let's go," she says abruptly.

Neji blinks, leaning against the door, so that his long hair cascades over one shoulder. "I thought – "

She smiles at him, but it takes a noticeable effort. "You thought wrong."

In an hour, he has showered and donned his most formal set of ceremonial Hyuuga robes. Shortly afterward, they are at the wedding.

It has attracted a large crowd, but Shikamaru, standing at the head and looking most uncomfortable in his robes, can pick out the bright pink hair and white eyes even from a hundred feet away. His eyes widen; he makes no attempt at hiding his surprise.

Neji gives him what could best be described as an encouraging smile; Sakura lifts her wineglass in a silent toast, and Shikamaru inclines his head, even as he feels his throat constrict.

**Natural**

It is only natural that this should happen to them, the two survivors, but as they take their vows, both Neji and Sakura (and Shikamaru, waiting in the crowd) know that this is merely the next best thing.

**Horizon**

They are little more than teenagers thrown into an adult world, really, forced to come of age too soon, and Sakura realizes this the first time that they have been assigned on a mission together, when Neji attempts to chase an eagle into the horizon, and Shikamaru cheers him on loudly.

**Valiant**

"That was unnecessary and far too troublesome," Shikamaru grouses, as he bandages the lesser of Neji's wounds. "A few shuriken wouldn't have _killed_ us."

Sakura cannot help but smile at him, even as she guides the poison out of the kunai stab in his chest with her chakra. "You're just far too brave, Neji."

"It is the duty of the captain to protect his team," is the only reply the Hyuuga gives.

"_And_ you love us," Shikamaru prompts, and Sakura giggles.

"…Yes, that too."

**Victory**

There is no greater satisfaction than returning after a mission well completed – Shikamaru is less likely to proclaim things troublesome and can even be persuaded to sing karaoke at passing bars, sometimes, Neji is less likely to forbid Shikamaru from singing, and Sakura is a great deal more likely to throw her arms around them in a fit of goodwill and declare them the best teammates _ever._

**Defeat**

"Another successful mission," Tsunade says, stamping their file, and giving her three favorite genii a smirk. "I'm not surprised."

Sakura smiles, and flings her arms around Neji and Shikamaru's shoulders. "After all, we're damn near unbeatable."

* * *

…

Oh, holy crap, why was this so sad and ironic? I'm sorry, guys. D: The next one will be happier, I promise.

Feedback appreciated!


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